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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



/ 

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



INVESTIGATION 



OF THE 



SCIENTIFIC AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF 
THE SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY, 



BEING A REPORT 



MADE IN RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FROM 



THE HON. GEORGE B. LORING, 

TJ. S. Commissioner of Agriculture, 



BY A COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



•N 




NOVEMBER, 1882 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1883. 



•^ 



^\* 



1 



<o 





LETTERS OF TRANSMITTAL 



Department of Agriculture, 

Washington, D. 0., January 10, 1883. 

Sir : In compliance with a resolution of the Senate, July 1, 1882, I 
transmit herewith for the use of the Senate a copy of the report of the 
committee of the National Academy of Sciences upon the subject of 
Sorghum Sugar. I deem it proper to state in this connection that I 
have been unable to comply with the direction of the Senate at an 
earlier date on account of delay in transmitting the report of the Acad- 
emy to this Department, which was not received until November 15, 
1882 ; and a communication from the Acting President of the Academy, 
dated December 23, 1882, which forms a part of the report. The prep- 
arations of the voluminous manuscript copy of the report has moreover 
required a considerable length of time, and the illustrations required 
by the Academy for the report are just now received, having been sup- 
plied to this Department on the 8th instant. 

Yery respectfully, your obedient servant, 

GEO. B. LORING, 
Commissioner of Agriculture. 
Hon. David Davis, 

President of the Senate of the United States. 



Yale College, New Haven, Conn., 

November 13, 1882. 
Sir: I have the honor to transmit to you herewith a report on the 
sorghum-sugar industry, made by a Committee of the National Academy 
of Sciences, in accordance with the request contained in your communi- 
cation of January 30, 1882. 

Yery respectfully, 

O. C. MARSH, 

Acting President of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Hon. George B. Loring, 

United States Commissioner of Agriculture. 3 



4 letters of transmittal. 

New Haven, Conn., 

November 1, 1882. 

Sir: Herewith I have the honor to hand to you the report of a com- 
mittee appointed by the late President Rogers, at the request of the 
Hon. George B. Loring, United States Commissioner of Agriculture, of 
date January 30, 1882, for the "scientific investigation of the sorghum 
question." 

The scientific relations of this question are so intimately interwoven 
with the economic that the two cannot well be considered separately. 
The Committee were, therefore, glad to learn from a subsequent com- 
munication, dated March 24, 1882, from the honorable Commissioner, 
that "he regarded the investigation of the economic value of sorghum 
to the sugar manufacturer the point especially interesting to his De- 
partment." 

Both sides of the sorghum question are, therefore, considered in the 

report. 

Respectfully, yours, 

B. SILLIMAN, 

Chairman, &c. 
Prof. O. C. Marsh, 

Acting President of the National Academy of Sciences. 



CONTENTS. 



IP^RT I. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

Page. 

The Committee 9 

The Sorghum Sugar Industry : Introduction 13 

Conflicting opinions on essential points 14 

1. Of the kind of sugar present in the juice 14 

2. Best varieties of sorghum for the production of sugar 15 

3. Time for harvesting and working and when the maximum of sugar is 

present 15 

4. Prompt working of sorghum after cutting 18 

5. The necessity of further investigation 19 

Work of Dr. Collier, chemist to the Department of Agriculture 19 

The agricultural characters of sorghum 20 

Value of the research in a material sense to the nation 23 

Further investigations desirable 24 

The analytical methods employed 25 

Comparative results of analysis and polarization 26 

Summary 27 

Production of sugar from sorghum ; failure and success 29 

Failuies : 

1. Failure of the efforts of the Department of Agriculture to produce sugar 

in 1881 29 

2. Partial failure at Faribault, Miun 30 

Successes: 

1. The State of New Jersey agricultural experiment station, 1581 31 

2. The Rio Grande Sugar Company, New Jersey 31 

Additional statements respecting the Rio Grande plantation : Note 33 

3. The Illinois Industrial University in 1881 34 

Same, 1882 34 

4. Experimental farm of the University of Wisconsin, Professor Swenson. 34 

5. Capt. R. Blakeley: Faribault Refinery, Minnesota : Fuller statement.. 35 

6. Crystal Lake Refinery : J. B. Thorns 36 

7. Mr. A. J. Russell, Jauesville, Wis 36 

8. G. W. Chapman, secretary, Kansas 37 

9. Mr. Bassett : France cited 37 

10. Professor Johnson of the Committee 37 

11. Clinton Bozarth, Iowa 38 

12. Proceedings Mississippi Valley Cane Growers' Association 38 

13. Sugar canes, &c. : Isaac A. Hedges 38 

14. Joseph S. Lovering (1857) 38 

15. Henry Talcott, Ohio 38 

16. B. V. Ramson, Salem, Nebr 39 

17. C. Conrad Johnson, Baltimore 39 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

P^RT II. 

CONCLUSION. 

Page. 

Summary of results obtained 43 

A. — Of the points already settled 43 

1. The presence of sugar in the juices of sorghum and maize stalks 43 

Average results of analyses of juices, thirty-five varieties of sor- 
ghum 44 

2. Practically little difference in the varieties, etc 45 

3. When the maximum content of sugar is present in sorghum 45 

4. Conflicting testimony before the investigation 45 

5. Importance of an even crop 47 

6. Importance of promptly working the crop after it has been cut up.. 47 

7. Sugar has been made from sorghum 47 

8. The hydrometer and ripe seed sufficient test, etc 48 

9. Length of period for working sorghum 49 

10. Effect of rain on composition of sorghum juices 50 

11. Effect of frost upon sorghum 50 

12. Manufacture of sugar from sorghum 50 

13. Effect of fertilizers upon the production of sugar in sorghum 51 

14. The so-called gum a product of manufacture 51 

B. — Future investigations 51 

Work remaining to be done 52 

Names of the Committee 53 

JP^RT III . 

APPENDED PAPERS. 

1. Of the so-called Chinese sugar-cane: Notes from Dr. S. Wells Williams 57 

Dr. E. JBretschneider 58 

2. M. Louis Vilmorin : Essay on sorghum. (" Le Bon Jardinier, 1855")...*.. 59 

3. Letter from Leonard Wray : Perak, 1882 63 

4. Facts regarding sorghum and some conclusions as to its value as a source 

of sugar: By Peter Collier, Ph. Dr. (Paper presented at the Philadel- 
phia meeting of the National Academy of Sciences, November, 1881) 64 

5. Report upon statistics of sorghum. Addressed to Hon. George B. Loring, 

by J. R. Dodge, statistician 69 

6. "New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station XVIII : Sorghum sugar cane" 71 

7. Rio Grande Sugar Company, New Jersey 74 

A. — Letter from G. C. Potts, president, to the Tariff Commission 74 

B.— Captain Blakeley, describing his visit to the Rio Grande Sugar 

Works 76 

C. — Mr. Harry McCall, of Louisiana, describing his visit to the Rio 

Grande Sugar Works 77 

D. — Blank form for returns to secure the bounty from the State of New 

Jersey 77 

8. Champaign Sugar and Glucose Company : Report (in part) for 1882 78 

9. Experiments in Amber cane, &c, at the experimental farm, Madison, Wis. : 

Prof. W. A. Henry and Magnus Swenson for 1881 79 

10. Illinois Industrial University : Report on the manufacture of sugar, sirup, 

and glucose from sorghum, &c, by Henry A. Weber, Ph. D., and Mel- 

villA. Scovell, M. S., for 1881 105 

11. H. A. W T eber, Ph. D.: Letter of date March 18, 1882, to B. Silliman 118 

12. A. J. Russell, Janesville, Wis. : Two letters of date December 28, 1881, to 

the Commissioner, and March 22, 1882, to the chairman 118 



CONTENTS. 7 

Page. 

13. John B. Thorns, Crystal Lake Refinery, Chicago, 111. : Two letters to B. 

Silliman, of date April 10,1882 119 

14. Geo. W. Chapman, secretary Price County, Kansas, Farmers' Club, Sterling, 

Price County : Letter of date February 6, 1882, to the Commissioner of 
Agriculture 122 

15. Jbel M. Clark, Italy Hollow, N. Y. : Letter of date March 8, 1882, to the 

Commissioner 122 

16. Joseph Wharton, Camden, N. J. : Letter to B. Silliman, of date April 8, 1882. 

Records negative results of his beet-root culture, but expresses confidence 

in the future of sorghum in South New Jersey 122 

17. J. F. Porter, Red Wing, Minn. : Letter to Dr. Collier, of date March 5, 1882. 123 

18. Blymyer Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio : Letter of date March 

15, 1882, toB. Silliman 123 

19. W. H. Wiley, Lafayette, Ind. : Letter of date April 3, 1882, to B. SiUiman . . 124 

20. Letter of Joseph Albrecht, chemist, on the results obtained at the United 

States Department of Agriculture 124 

21. Letter from B. V. Ransom, Nebraska, of date October 22, 1882: Balance- 

sheet 125 

22. The same for 1881 126 

23. Letter from Ephraim Link, author of Link's Hybrid 127 

24. Letter of Isaac A. Hedges, Saint Louis, with sorghum samples 127 

25. List of samples exhibited April, 1882, at the Academy meeting, by the Chair- 

man and deposited in the National Museum . 128 

26. Letter to B. Silliman, Chairman, &c, from Isaac A. Hedges, of April, 1882. 128 

27. Letter from C. Conrad Johnson, of Baltimore, Md., of date March 30, 1882, 

toB. Silliman 131 

28. Letter from Henry B. Richards, of Texas, on orange cane 140 

29. Letter from General Ashbel Smith, of Houston, Tex., to B. Silliman 141 

30. Duplicate analyses of sorghum juices, by Dr. Collier 142 

31. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station: Analysis of sorghum 

seed, by Prof. S. W. Johnson .-. 144 

32. United States Department of Agriculture : Hon. Commissioner Loring's cir- 

cular of date June 6, 1882, to manufacturers of sugar from sorghum, &c . . . 144 

33. Report of Professor Swenson, October, 1882 146 

34. Bibliography of sorghum 148 



COMMITTEE. 



MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMY. 

William H. Brewer, Ph. Dr., Norton Professor of Agriculture, Sheffield Scientific 

School, Yale College. 
Chas. F. Chandler, Ph. Dr., Professor of Chemistry, Columbia College, New York. 
Samuel W. Johnson, M. A., Professor of Theoretical and Agricultural Chemistry, 

Sheffield Scientific School, Yale College. 
Benj. Silliman, M. A., M. D., Chairman, Professor of Chemistry, &c, Yale College. 
J. Lawrence Smith, M. D., late Professor of Chemistry, University of Louisville, 

Kentucky. 

AND ALSO NOT OF THE ACADEMY. 

Gideon E. Moore, Ph. D., Expert, New York. 

Note. — Dr. C. A. Goessmann, Professor of Chemistry at the M assachusetts Agri 
cultural College, at Amherst, was also a member of this Committee, and acted in the 
work until September 15, 1882, when he resigned. The Committee desire to acknowl- 
edge the valuable co-operation of their colleague in the inception and progress of 
this investigation, and to express their regret that his name should not appear on 
this report, as it so often appears in it, as one of the earliest investigators of the 
«ugar-producing capacity of sorghum. 



PAET I. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



11 



NOTE 



June, 1883. 

The first draft of this report was submitted to the National Academy 
of Sciences at its session in Washington in April, 1882. The official 
copy of the Document was transmitted to the Commissioner of Agri- 
culture in November following. 

The Committee have embraced this opportunity to add to their Report 

the results of the crop grown in 1882, as also some matters of historical 

interest relating to sorghum. 

The Committee. 



THE SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF 

SCIENCES. 

11 The sorghum question " referred by the Commissioner of Agriculture 
to the National Academy of Sciences for investigation and report, means 
undoubtedly, in the sense in which it now chiefly interests cultivators, 
the sugar-producing value of the sorghum. 

The questions relating to the value of sorghum for food lor men or 
animals, of its use as forage, or for the manufacture of spirits, glucose, 
beer, and vinegar, &c, are all subordinate to the sugar-producing value 
of the plant. For more than a quarter of a century sirup has been made 
from sorghum, over a wide range of country in the United States, both 
north and south, and for a time it was confidently believed that sor- 
ghum culture would assume great importance as a source of cane-sugar. 
Many efforts were made to establish this industry in various places as 
a part of the domestic work of the farm. These attempts were rarely 
other than disappointments. Occasionally, here and there, good crude 
sugar was made, and it was frequently observed that the sirup, when 
permitted to stand for a length of time, deposited crystals of cane 
sugar. But, on the whole, the attempts to manufacture sugar from 
sorghum, on a scale of commercial importance, were a failure up to the 
time when the Department of Agriculture took in hand, in its chemical 
division, the solution of the sugar problem. 

That the sorghum was, under certain conditions imperfectly under- 
stood, capable of producing cane-sugar, admitted of no doubt, but what 
the conditions of success were was not known. How confused, con- 
tradictory, and ill-digested the state of our knowledge was on this 
subject, prior to 1878, will be seen from what follows. 

Long as the so-called "Chinese sorghum" or sugar cane had been 
cultivated in China, there appears to be no evidence that the Chinese 
used it for sugar-making nor even for sirup.* 

No data existed in their literature or experience on which to draw 
conclusions from these ancient cultivators of sorghum showing that 
they were even acquainted with its sugar-producing nature. This ex- 
perience has been almost exclusively American and is comparatively 
recent.t 

*See in Appendix an interesting statement from the eminent Chinese scholar Rev. 
S. Wells Williams, professor of Chinese at Yale College, on the so-called Chinese 
sugar-cane, p. 57. 

tThe sugar-producing power of the sorghum appears to have heen first noticed in 
France, aud onr first seed came to the United States from that country. Mr. Leonard 
Wray, author of the "Practical Sugar Planter," a standard work for a quarter of a 
century, introduced the sorghum into America from Natal, where he was then resident 
some thirty years ago. He is also cited by M. L. Vilmorin, as introducing sorghum 

13 



14 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

A proper introduction to this report, as it appears to the Committee, 
is a brief sketch of the history of the earlier investigations upon sorghum 
(especially American examples) as a sugar-producing plant, chrono- 
logically arranged. 

The following citations are by no means an exhaustive summary, but 
are, probably, sufficient to show the wide differences of opinion on 
nearly every important point of the subject entertained by the several 
authorities quoted. 

A few only of the more important points of this inquiry have been 
selected as illustrations, and the conclusions reached are grouped under 
each head and chronologically arranged. 

CONFLICTING OPINIONS ON ESSENTIAL POINTS. 

OF THE KIND OF SUGAR PRESENT IN THE JUICE OF SORGHUM. 

a. In a paper by D. Jay Brown (Annual Report Department of 
Agriculture, 1856, p. 310), he says: 

Mr. Hervey, of France, contends that there is no uncrystallizable sugar pre-ex- 
isting in the cane (sorghum), and that the formation of glucose (grape-sugar) or 
molasses is only owing to the action of the salts contained in the liquid during the 
manufacturing process. 

&. Dr. 0. T. Jackson (Annual Report Department of Agriculture, 
1857, p. 187) says: 

There is no doubt that this plaut (sorghum), when unripe, contains only grape- 
sugar. 

c. Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, in a paper detailing the results of his in- 
vestigations of sorghum (Annual Report Department of Agriculture, 
1857, p. 192), says: 

This result settles the question that the great bulk of the sugar contained in the sorgho 
is cry stalliz able, or cane-sugar proper. 

And again, giving his final conclusions, he says : 

1. The sorgho contains about 10 per cent, of crystallizable sugar. 

2. The sugar can be obtained by processes analogous to those employed for extract- 
ing sugar from other plants. 

In an article entitled u Contributions to the knowledge of the nature 
of the Chinese sugar-cane" (transactions New York State Agriculture 
Society, 1861, p. 785) by Dr. C. A. G-oessmann, he says p. 789 : 

The facts so far obtained prove that, besides cane-sugar, no other kind of sugar 
exists in the juice of the ripe and sound sorghum-cane. 

Again, in describing the general properties of the sorghum-cane 
juice, he says, p. 798 : 

I have already mentioned that the results, which I obtained, entitled me to believe 
that cane-sugar is the only kind of sugar that exists in that juice. 

And on page 808, he says of results in extracting sugar from sorghum : 

These results are very encouraging, as they show that more than half the sugar, or 
5 per cent, out of 9 to 9£ per cent, in the juice, can be separated. When Achard es- 

from Caffraria into France in 1854. (See translation of Vilmorin's paper in the ap- 
pendix (p. 59). An interesting letter from this veteran promoter of the sorghum 
sugar culture, of date of September 7, 1882, from Parak, Indian Archipelago will also 
be found in the Appendix. ) 

Louis Vilmorin, just mentioned, is the author of one of thes early memoirs on this 
subject (1855), of which a translation will be found in the Appendix, loc. cit. 

Consult in this connection the bibliography of sorghum in the Appendix, and also 
an extract from the work on sugar by Mr. Basset quoted on p. 37. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 15 

tablished the first beet-sugar manufactory in Silesia, he was able to separate only 
from 3 to 4 per cent, of sugar, although 10£ per cent, was present ; and the French 
manufactories were quite contented when they succeeded in extracting from 4 to 5 
per cent, of sugar. The history of the development of the manufacture of beet-sugar 
may be studied with great advantage by those interested in the sorghum. 

d. Dr. Thomas Antisell, chemist Department of Agriculture (Annual 
Eeport Department of Agriculture, 1867, p. 33), says : 

The attempt to separate and crystallize the cane-sugar of sorghum, on a large scale, 
has been wholly unsuccessful, and, as a sacchariferous plant, it is only valuable for 
molasses. 

e. President Stockbridge, of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, 
in his Annual Eeport, December, 1881, p. 19, says : 

The experiments with sorghum, as a sugar-producing plant, forever settled the 
fact that no known variety of it can be profitably employed for the purpose, unless 
chemical science can discover a law by which glucose can be changed for cane-sugar. 

THE BEST VARIETIES OF SORGHUM FOR THE PRODUCTION OF bUGAJR. 

In the Sorgho Journal for February, 1869, p. 9, the editor, William 
Clough, says : 

The Oomseeana is altogether the best, Neeazana is next, for making sugar. It is 
not worth while to try to make sugar of any other variety which we now possess. 

Again, p. 26, he says : 

It [the Oomseeana] is the only cane upon which the operation for sugar can be con- 
ducted with any certainty. 

Again he says : 

Spend no time in attempting to make sugar from any but the Oomseeana or Neea- 
zana varieties. 

Again, same page, he says : 

Its sirup does not tend to granulate. 

TIME FOR HARVESTING AND WORKING THE SORGHUM, AND WHEN THE MAXIMUM 
OF SUGAR IS PRESENT IN THE JUICE. 

a. In the Annual Eeport Department of Agriculture, 1854, p. 222, 
M. Vilmorin, of Paris, is quoted as concluding that — 

The proportion of sugar in the stalks continued to increase until the seeds were in 
the milky state. * * * The ripeness of the seeds does not appear much to lessen 
the production of sugar, at least in the climate near Paris ; but in other countries, 
where it matures when the weather is still warm, the effect may be different. 

b. J. H. Hammond, Silverton, S. 0., Annual Eeport Department of 
Agriculture, 1855, p. 282, found by his experiment (he records one only) 
with sorghum, taken before the seed was in the milk, when it was in the 
milk, and when it was mature, that 

The youngest canes had rather the most, and the oldest rather the least saccharine 
matter. * * * Beginningto cut the cane as soon as the head is fully developed, it 
may be secured for a month before it will all ripen ; how long after that, I do not know. 

c. Dr. 0. T. Jackson (Annual Eeport Department of Agriculture, 
1856, p. 307) found that— 

The juice from stalks, with quite ripe seeds, was, by far, the sweetest, while the 
green one, which was just in flower, contained but very little saccharine matter. 

Upon page 312 Louis Vilmorin is quoted as saying: 

The crystallization of the sugar of the sorgho, it seems, should be easily obtained 
in all cases where the cane can be sufficiently ripened; and, as the proportion of the 
sugar is an unfailing index of ripeness, it follows that we could always be sure of ob- 
taining a good crystallization of juices, the density of which exceeds 1.075, while 
weaker ones could not yield satisfactory results after concentration. 



16 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

Again he says, same page : 

This difficulty [of purging, through presence of the gum] only presents itself in the 
employment of unripe canes; for, as s?oon as the juices attain the density of 1.080 and 
more, they contain little else than crystallizable sugar, and their treatment presents 
no difficulty. 

d. Dr. 0. T. Jackson, in his report (Annual Eeport Department of 
Agriculture, 1857, p. 187), says: 

A ripe plant yielded a juice of 1.062 sp. gr., which yielded 16.6 per cent, of thick 
sirup, which crystallized almost wholly into cane-sugar, the whole mass becoming 
solid with crystals. 

And he concludes: 

From these researches I am fully satisfied that both the Chinese and the African 
varieties of sorghum will produce sugar of the cane type perfectly and abundantly, 
whenever the canes will ripen their seeds. . 

Again he says : 

The unripe canes can be employed for making molasses and alcohol, but, as before 
stated, will not yield true cane-sugar. 

e. The committee of the United States Agricultural Society, appointed 
to investigate the subject of sorghum, in their report (Annual Eeport 
Department of Agriculture, 1857) say: 

Where the plant was well matured, the juice yielded from 13 to 16 per cent, of dry 
saccharine matter ; from 9 to 11 per cent, of which was well-defined crystallized cane- 
sugar. * * * A palatable bread was made from t!±e flour ground from the seeds. 
* * * Paper of various qualities has been manufactured from the fibrous parts of 
the stalks. 

/. J. N. Smith, of Quincy, 111. (Annual Report Department of Agri- 
culture, 1862, p. 134), says : 

The sirup [from sorghum] will not make sugar if the cane is cut before the seed is 
in the dough. # * * The crop should be allowed to stand in the field as long as 
possible, without being in clanger of frost. 

(j. L. Bollman, Bloomington, Iowa, upon page 147, loc. eit., says: 

To me it is obvious that the chief requisite for sugar-makiug from The sorghum 
canes is their perfect maturity, and such maturity is dependent on correct cultivation 
and late cutting. 

h. J. Stanton Gould, in a report on " Sorghum Culture" made to the 
Kew York State Agricultural Society, 1863 (Transactions New York 
State Agricultural Society, p. 752), says : 

The seed of the cane [sorghum] continues in the dough for about a week. It is the 
general impression the cane should be cut during this period, as it is then supposed 
to have the greatest amount of saccharine matter ; at least this is thought to be true 
of all the varieties except the white imphee, which is usually cnt just as it is going 
out of the milk or just entering the dough. 

i. William Clough, editor Sorgho Journal, Cincinnati, Ohio (Annual 
Eeport Department of Agriculture, 1864, p. 59), says : 

The precise period most appropriate for harvesting the cane is when the saccharine 
properties are fully developed, and before any supplementary action sets in. This 
will be found to be at the time when the seed at the middle of the panicle is just 
beginning to harden, or to pass from the fluid or milky state. 

Again he says (Annual Eeport Department of Agriculture, 1865, p* 
312): 

Until recently the opinion has prevailed that cane for makiug sugar should be 
thoroughly ripe ; that it could not remain standing in tk« field too long, provided it 
escaped the frost ; but lately this notion has been somewhat modified. * * * 
Something like a case for early or premature harvesting has been made out. The 
matter cannot, however, be considered as definitely settled until the results of the 
seas n of 1866 shall have been determined. After the next year it will be fully un- 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 17 

derstood. The precise stage of maturity most favorable for the production ofcrys- 
tallizable sugar, according to the new theory, is just after the seeds are formed and 
before they begin to harden. 

j. Prof. Henry Erni, Chemist, Department of Agriculture, 1865, p. 

48, says : 

Contrary to my expectations, I found that the expressed sorgho juice of ripe cane, 
whether neutralized by lime or not, refused to crystallize, for what solidified or 
granulated after long standing of the sirup, was grape sugar. 

And, in a foot-note, lie says : 

The juice from unripe cane readily crystallized. 

ft. In a pamphlet entitled, "The Sorgho Manufacturer's Manual,' 7 by 
Jacobs Brothers, Columbus, Ohio, 1866, p. 4, it is stated that — 

The cane is in the best state for harvesting when part of the seed is beginning to 
turn black, or, in other words, when the seed is in the doughy state. 

I. A correspondent of the Department of Agriculture (Annual Ee- 
port, 1867, p. 359) says : 

I take tbe sorghum (Otaheitana) when just fairly in bloom. In no case do I allow 
the seed to mature when I wish to make sugar; but for No. 1 sirup I let the cane 
mature. 

m. The Sorgho Journal, William Clough, editor, February, 1869, p. 
26, speaking of Neeazana, says : 

Do not mind the panicle ; if the juice has a clear, sweet taste, even if the panicle is 
only in bloom, cut and work the cane. 

Again, p. 92, under an article entitled u Immature cane best for 
sugar," it says : 

The theory that cane should be harvested before fully ripe, when designed for 
sugar, has been further confirmed by the experience of this year. The other idea, 
that the cane should be fully ripe, was never confirmed by facts. 

Page 58 it says : 

The weight of evidence, just now, is in favor of cutting as the seed is passing 
from the milk to the dough state. 

Again, p. 73 : 

Cut the cane as soon as the seeds are formed. * * * Cut the cane as soon as 
they acquire a clear, sweet taste. This may occur in some seasons when the cane is 
in the flower, and iu other seasons not till the seed is fully formed. 

n. E. W. Skinner, of Sioux City, Iowa, says (Annual Keport Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, 1873, p. 393) : 

The best sirup is made from cane not fully ripened. 

o. In his report on a Early Amber Cane," by Dr. C. A. Goessmann, 
of Amherst, Mass., 1879, he says, p. 9 : 

The safest way to secure the full benefit of the Early Amber cane crop, for sirup 
and sugar manufacture, is to begin cutting the canes when the seed is full grown, 
yet still soft. 

p. In the Sorgho Hand-Book, published by the Blymyer Manufactur- 
ing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1880, it is directed, upon p. 8 : 

The cane should be cut when the seed is in the dough. 

q. In a "Report on the manufacture of sugar, sirup, and glucose 
from sorghum," by Professors Weber and Scovill, of the Illinois Indus- 
trial University, 1881, p. 22, they say: 

The proper time to begin cutting the cane is when the seed is in the hardening dough. 

r. Yilmorin, of Paris, in the Journal d ^agriculture pratique, February 

17, 1881, p. 230, says: 

The period during the development of the plant (sorghum) when the juice is 
purest and richest in sugar is that wbich precedes tbe maturity of tbe seed. It is at 
that point when the interior of the seed has tbe consistence of soft dough, easily 
crushed under the finger-nail, that the plant should be cut and pressed. 

S. Mis. 51—2 



18 SORGHUM bUGAR INDUSTRY. . 

PROMPT WORKING OF THE SORGHUM AFTER CUTTING. 

a. Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, in his report (Annual Eeport Department 

of Agriculture, 1857, p. 192) says: 

The uncrystallizable sugar forms rapidly after the cane is fully ripe and recently 
cut. 

And again, as the result of his examinations, he says : 

Hence it is evident that no time is to be lost, after cutting, iu expressing the juice. 

b. D. M. Cook, Mansfield, Ohio (Annual Report Department of Agri- 
culture, 1861, p. 311), says : 

Let the cane fully ripen if possible. If the cane is fully ripe it may be worked into 
sirup and sugar with advantage as fast as it is cut up; but if the juice is not per- 
fectly matured, it should be allowed to " season" a few days. [By having the cane 
cut up, bound in bundles, and shocked under a, barn jr shed for a few days.] 

c. In an article on "Soighum culture and sugar making," by I. A. 

Hedges (Annual Report Department of Agriculture, 1861, p. 297), he 

says : 

After the canes have been topped, stripped, cut up, and tied in bundles, they may be 
set up in the open air, or, preferably, under shelter, and kept for some weeks. Such 
keeping improves the jnice not only in flavor, but also in saccharine richness from 
1 to 3 degrees B. This improvement takes place upon the same principle and from 
similar causes which determine the sweetening of acid fruit after pulling, viz, the 
change of gum and starch into sugar. 

d. J. H. Smith, Quincy, 111. (Annual Report Department of Agricult- 
ure, 1862, p. 134), says: 

The cane should be cut and brought to the mill and crushed on the same day ; and 
the topping of tbe cane and the stripping of the leaves from the stalks should pro- 
ceed no faster than it is cut and brought to the mill, if the very best results are de- 
sired and all danger of souring is to be avoided. * * * It is much better, there- 
fore, not to give the cane any rest, after being stripped and topped, till the juice is 
expressed and run into sirup. * * * When the cane is ripe, it should be immedi- 
ately cut, for if suffered to remain, after it is ripe, in connection with the roots, a 
deteriorating effect upon the quality and flavor of the sirup will be the result, and 
at the same time the quantity will be greatly diminished. 

e. William Clough, editor of the Sorgho Journal, says (Annual Re- 
port Department of Agriculture, 1865, p. 312) : 

It would be best to allow but little time between harvesting and working t]ie cane, 
and on no account should it be stored and allowed to remain long in large shocks. It 
is almost demonstrable that no cane sugar is developed under any circumstances after 
the caue is harvested. The changes that occur after the cane is cut, if any, must be 
in their nature depreciative, consisting in the transformation of crystallizable to un- 
crystallizable sugar. 

/. The Sorgho Manufacturer's Manual, Jacobs Brothers, Columbus, 

Ohio, 1866, p. 4, directs that : 

The cane should be cut and shocked in the field, with tops on, and in this con- 
dition it may remain several months before being worked up, for the cane matures 
and forms more saccharine matter. 

g. A correspondent (Annual Report Department of Agriculture, 1867, 
p. 359) gives his method of working : 

I strip, cut, and work up the cano the same day, if possible. 

h. E. W. Skinner, Sioux City, Iowa (Annual Report Department of 

Agriculture, 1873, p. 393), says: 

As soon as matured, cut, pile, and cover with leaves ; never allow it to stand, after 
maturity, in connection with the roots. 

i. The Sorgho Hand-Book, Blymyer Manufacturing Company, Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, 1880, p. 8, directs that : 

The cane should be cut several days before grinding, as it will be more free from 
impurities if cured for a few days before going to the mill. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 19 

j. Professors Soovill and Weber, in their report, 1881 (Illinois Indus- 
trial University), say: 

The cane (sorghum) should be worked up as soon as possible after cutting. 

THE NECESSITY OF FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF SORGHUM. 

a. D. J. Brown (Annual Eeport Department of Agriculture, 1856, p. 
313) says: 

Let the same skill, direded by science, be applied to the making of sugar from the 
sorgho sucre\ and we may reasonably expect the happiest results. 

b. Prof. J. Lawrence Smith (Annual Eeport Department of Agricult- 
ure, 1857, p. 192) further says: 

On investigating the sugar-bearing capacity of the Chinese sugar-cane, the first 
step required was to ascertain the true chemical constitution of the juice extracted 
from the plant. From various conflicting statements on the subject nothing satisfac- 
tory could be gleaned, some of the best authorities insisting that there was not any 
crystallizable sugar in the juice, or but a very small portion, while others, equally as 
strong, held the contrary opinion. 

c. Dr. J. Lawrence Smith (Annual Eeport Department of Agricult- 
ure, 1857, p. 192) further says: 

It must not be forgotten that sugar-making is an art, and cannot be practiced by 
every one with a mill and a set of kettles. * * * What was necessary for the beet 
root is doubtless required for the sorgho, namely, a thorough study of its nature, with 
a process of extracting the sugar specially adapted to it. 

d. J. Stanton Gould, u Eeport on sorghum culture," (Transactions New 
York State Agricultural Society, 1863, p. 740) says, in view of the dis- 
cordant testimony concerning the sorghum question : 

These conflicting opinions might easily be reconciled by a few well-directed experi- 
ments. 

Again he says, same page : 

After the most careful inquiry, orally and by letter, I am unable to find that any 
such experiments have ever been made. 

Again he says (p. 747 :) 

These experiments are not conclusive, and the whole question needs a careful and 
accurate investigation. 

e. Dr. J. M. Shaffer, Secretary Iowa State Agricultural Society, says 
(Annual Eeport Department of Agriculture, 1868, p. 515) : 

The production of sugar (from sorghum) is rather the result of accident than of 
any well-digested system for its extraction. 

From the foregoing discordant statements upon some of the more im- 
portant points selected for comparison, viz, (1) the kind of sugar found 
in the sorghum; (2) the best variety of sorghum for the production of 
sugar ; (3) the time for harvesting and when the maximum of sugar is 
present in the juice ; (4) the prompt working of the canes after cutting, 
&c. ; it is evident that nothing was definitely determined even on points 
where work in the laboratory and the exercise of analytical skill was 
apparently sufficient to settle most doubts, aside from economic ques- 
tions, relating to methods of manufacture* 

Such we find was the condition of the " sorghum-sugar question" up 
to a period immediately preceding the researches undertaken by the 
United States Department of Agriculture in 1878 by their present chem- 
ist, Dr. Peter Collier. , 

All the analytical and scientific work of this chemist has been before 
us, either in the published reports of the Department of Agriculture; in 
the manuscript report of the work of 1881 and ? 82, with its appendices, 



20 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

submitted to the commitee by the honorable Commissioner of Agricult- 
ure, supplemented by the personal inspection of the chemical methods in 
use in the laboratory of the Department in Washington by members of 
the Committee ; by the examination of Dr. Collier before the Committee 
in more than one session at New Haven, where he was invited for this 
purpose; and, lastly, by correspondence during the whole period cov- 
ered by the work of this Committee. 

To secure the results of other chemists and workers in this field of 
research, correspondence has been opened by this Committee with those 
who responded to circulars sent out asking for co-operation and infor- 
mation on the sorghum question. 

The results of these inquiries will be found appended, with acknowl- 
edgments to those who have so efficiently aided the work of the Com- 
mittee on both the scientific and economic side of this investigation. 

A full digest and analytical summary of the present state of our 
knowledge of this subject is presented in Part II of this Eeport.* 

It will be observed that the existence of sugar in the stalks of maize 
is frequently mentioned in the several reports of the Department of 
Agriculture, and comparative statements are made between the sorghum 
sugar results and those obtained in a parallel series of experiments con- 
ducted at this Department upon maize. 

This subject was not specifically referred to this Committee, nor have 
they devoted much time to its consideration. It was, however, found 
convenient to give the results in brief, for what they may be worth, and 
without expressing an opinion on their practical value. 

The analytical methods of investigation employed were the same with 
those used in the investigation of sorghum. There appeared to be no 
sufficient reason for omitting these comparisons, which are intimately 
woven into the text of the several documents before us. Whether these 
results may or may not be reproduced in field culture on a large scale 
and with commercial success are points requiring further experimental 
tests, and on these points the Committee are not now prepared to ex- 
press any opinion. 

THE AGRICULTURAL CHARACTERS OF SORGHUM. 

The cultivated varieties of sorghum, considered botanically, are cereals. 
They belong more especially to that very small group of cereal species 
which have been cultivated from the dawn of history and have devel- 
oped along with our civilization. During ages of culture they have so 
changed under the hand of man that we are ignorant as to their native 
countries, and know not what their original wild progenitors were. 
Their descendants now exist in a vast number of varieties, which differ so 
greatly among themselves that neither scientific botanists nor practical 
cultivators are agreed as to what are true species and what mere vari- 
eties which have arisen in cultivation. 

The cultivated varieties of sorghum have been placed in the genera 
Holcus, Andropogon, and Sorghum by different botanists, the latter being 
the name now accepted. 

* For a fuller notice of the literature of sorghum, reference is made to a " Bibliography 
of Sorghum," which will also be found in the appendix to this report. 

The Committee are aware that many titles of memoirs, scattered through a wide 
range of periodical literature in various languages, might be added, but it has not 
been in their power to make the search required to complete the list. The librarian 
of the Department of Agriculture has rendered efficient aid in compiling this biblio- 
graphy. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 21 

A generation ago botanists grouped the numerous cultivated varieties 
into a considerable number of distinct species, without agreement as to 
how many ; five or six were generally believed to exist. Certain varieties 
of durra, with the grain in a somewhat loose panicle, and which were 
more especially cultivated in Asia and in Southern Europe, were classed 
as one species called Sorghum (Holcus or Andropogon) vulgar e; the vari- 
eties with the grain in a densely contracted panicle, grown more largely 
in Africa, and known as Guinea-corn, Egyptian durra, Moorish millet, 
&c, were grouped into another species, called, S. cernuum; the variety 
besc known as chocolate-corn was the S. bicolor; broom-corn and all the 
sugar-producing kinds were classed together as S. saccharatum ; and 
other specific names were applied to smaller groups of these varieties. 

But the investigations of modern science have gradually led to the 
belief that all the numerous varieties once classed in the several species 
above enumerated had a common origin and constitute but a single 
species, to which the old name Sorghum vulgar e is now applied. 

This is now the belief of the most eminent botanists of the world. 
Some even go further and believe that all the cultivated varieties of 
the genus, including the spiked millets (Sorghum (Holcus) spicatum), are 
the descendants of a single original parental species. 

These conclusions have a most important bearing upon the subject 
of this special investigation. 

It is a law of nature that the longer a species is cultivated and the 
wider its cultivation extends the more easily it changes into new varie- 
ties and the wider the differences between the varieties become. Some 
species, however, have a much greater capacity for variation than 
others, and Sorghum vulgare stands pre-eminent among the useful plants 
for this character. 

The usefulness of any agricultural species is intimately correlated 
with its capacity for variation in cultivation, for this means capacity 
for the improvement of varieties by the only means known to cultiva- 
tors by which such improvements may be effected. It also means ca- 
pacity for adaptation to varied conditions of soil, climate, and natural 
surroundings, and, furthermore, adaptation to various methods of cult- 
ure and to various uses. It is a sort of plasticity which allows the 
species to be molded in the hands of the intelligent cultivator. 

This species (Sorghum vulgare) has varied more widely under culti- 
vation than any other cereal, unless it be Indian corn. The varieties 
differ in all their characters, in height, fruitfulness, habit of growth, 
grain, stalk, leaf, panicle, chemical composition, preference of soil, 
climate, and exposure, and so on to all the differences in which species 
themselves differ. Its cultivation has extended to most of the warm 
and many of the temperate climates of the globe, and it has adapted 
itself to the varied uses and more varied agricultural methods of nearly 
all the civilized races of mankind. 

The agricultural success of any plant in a country depends in part 
upon its fitness to the soil and climate, and in x>art to a variety of other 
conditions, one of which is that it must fill some place in the agricult- 
ure of that country better than the other species competing with it. 
Sentiment and local customs are also factors, but which have less force 
in this country than in others. 

Durra, Guinea-corn, broom-corn, and probably also chocolate-corn, 
were introduced into this country in colonial times. During the days 
of more imperfect tools and machinery, and of difficult transportation, 
all our agricultural crops were of necessity grown upon a much smaller 
scale than now, and on most farms a greater variety of crops were grown 



22 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

than now. Most if not all the agricultural plants of the Old World were 
tried here, and many had a wide and sparse cultivation until well into 
the present century, and then disappeared under the new conditions of 
our agriculture. The cultivation of others became specialized. Varie- 
ties of this species may be found in both these categories. Durra and 
Guinea-corn were widely introduced, and they lingered in cultivation 
until crowded out by Indian corn. They were dropped just as many 
other minor crops were ; they did not fill a place in our modern agri- 
culture so well as some other species did, and now are only found in 
regions where Indian corn does not grow so well, particularly in the 
States which border on Mexico. Chocolate-corn (the old 8. bicolor) 
was cultivated here and there as a poor substitute for coffee, but 
under the chauged conditions of things it has entirely disappeared from 
our fields and gardens, crowded out by imported and better coffee. 
Broom-corn, also introduced in colonial times, was widely cultivated ; 
forty years ago very many persons grew enough for their own use or 
for local sale. It supplied a certain want better than anything else, 
consequently it could not be crowded out, but under the conditions of 
modern agriculture its cultivation has become specialized aud concen- 
trated in fewer localities, in some of which it has assumed an impor- 
tance found nowhere else in the world. It has been greatly improved, 
and the cultivation of American varieties has now extended to the Old 
World. 

About thirty years ago the sugar-yielding sorghum was introduced. 
Filling a certain place on our farms better than any other plant previ- 
ously tried, it spread in cultivation with a rapidity no other agricult- 
ural plant ever did before in this or any other country, and is the only 
one adapted to a wide region introduced into the United States since 
colonial times which has become of sufficient importance to be enumer- 
ated in the census. It has become the " sorghum " of common language, 
and its cultivation has extended the whole length and breadth of the 
country. 

Its adaptation to our soil and climate is abundantly demonstrated, 
and its capacity for improvement also thoroughly proven. The Depart- 
ment of Agriculture has already examined m©re than forty varieties, 
some of which have originated in this country. We have now varieties 
with very unlike characters ; some mature in bO days, others require 
twice as long a time, and one varietj- has become in a sense perennial, 
a fact not true of any other cereal species grown in the country. They 
vary in habit of growth and in sugar-content; the two extremes have 
been developed here — the one as rich as Louisiana sugar-cane, the 
other the broom-corn, so poor in sugar. 

Belonging to such a plastic species, with such adaptation to a wide 
range of soil aud climate, with such capacity for modification and im- 
provement, already in such wide cultivation, and promising to meet such 
a definite want in our agricultural production, it is certain that, in obe- 
dience to natural laws, some of the existing varieties may be greatly 
improved, and that new ones may be made, some of which will better 
serve the ends we are now seeking than any varieties we now have. 
No efforts have yet been made to increase the sugar-content by syste- 
matic, intelligent, and long-continued selection. In the light of the 
successful results of experiment in this direction with sugar-beets, and 
with the abundant experience we have with other species as to other 
results attained by such processes, we have much to hope as to im- 
provement in this character with a species which lias been so variously 
naolcled to the uses of man, 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 23 

Agriculture, however intelligently pursued, is more of an art than a 
science. Hence the ultimate profitableness of any agricultural crop 
introduced into a region new to it can only be determined by actual 
trial through a series of years. The nature of the economical problem 
is such that science cannot predict the result. It can, however, render 
great aid in making success more probable, and in hastening it where 
it otherwise might be much delayed. It can suggest means and meth- 
ods, can indicate promising directions for experiment, can aid in fore- 
seeing and overcoming many difficulties, suggest remedies for mishaps, 
and in a multitude of ways aid in solving the practical problem. This 
is especially true when the crop is to be manufactured into a commercial 
product, and emphatically so in the production of sugar, the whole 
economical aspects of which have been changed by the aid of modern 
science. 

No agricultural species can be cultivated profitably everywhere within 
its range of actual growth, and it is yet to be demonstrated where the 
best regious are for the most profitable growth of sorghum. This is 
only partly an agricultural problem ; it is as intimately related to the 
question of winning the sugar in the best form and at the least expense. 
For the solution of the latter, scientific work is needed. It can ulti- 
mately be done in the sugar-house ; it may be more quickly done, and 
with vastly greater economy, if this be aided by the scientific labora- 
tory. The profitable production of sugar from cane, as now pursued in 
Louisiana, and from beets, as pursued in Europe, was achieved only by 
such aid. The methods of extracting sugar from these two great sources 
are very unlike, and each was developed along with scientific investiga- 
tion instituted for each special plant. Sorghum still needs this. The 
work so nobly begun and successfully pursued by the Agricultural 
Department is still incomplete and unfinished. To use an agricultural 
simile, the crop has been sown, but the harvest has not been reaped. 

Agriculturally, the sorghum question is solved, so far as it can be 
until science now does her share. That the crop may be widely and 
economically grown, containing a satisfactory amount of cane-sugar, is 
sufficiently proved. All the problem remaining unsolved relates to the 
extraction of sugar. In view of the magnitude of the interests involved, 
the results already obtained, and the wide attention the matter is now 
receiving, we feel that there are most encouraging indications of prac- 
tical success. 

VALUE OF THE RESEARCH IN' A MATERIAL SENSE TO THE NATION. 

Aside from the value of this research from a scientific standpoint, 
illustrating as it does the importance of obtaining from an extended 
investigation the facts and their mutual relations in an agronomic prob- 
lem, the results obtained appear to this Committee to possess a high 
value, in a material sense, to the nation. 

Whether the cultivation of a crop like sorghum, deriving its support 
largely from the atmosphere and water, since it appears to thrive best 
upon light soils, may or may not reward the cultivator better than the 
growth of cereals, it certainly adds a new factor to agriculture, of value 
not only as a sugar-producing plant, but also as a food plant of no mean 
quality. It thrives over a very wide area, and, as we have shown, de- 
velops in the warm and temperate latitudes more than a single crop per 
annum, and becomes, certainly in one of its varieties, perennial. 

But the work is also of national importance in its relation to existing 



24 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

industries, and especially to that of the cultivation of the sugar-cane 
and sugar-production therefrom. 

In this country the sugar-planter has to contend with obstacles un- 
known to the resident of tropical countries. A greater degree of skill 
and knowledge is here required for the attainment of the same result 
that elsewhere is reached through the normal operation of natural 
causes, almost without effort on the part of the planter. Such skill 
and knowledge can only be attained by a carefully conducted experi- 
mental inquiry, such as this investigation exhibits. 

The methods developed in the course of this investigation are also 
applicable, with but slight modification, to the cultivation of the sugar- 
cane, and there can be little doubt but that the ultimate effect of such 
investigations will be to stimulate the Southern sugar-planter to similar 
experiments for the ascertainment of the most favorable conditions for 
the prosecution of his own special industry, depending on the culture 
of tropical cane in subtropical climates, where it never attains its fullest 
development, and is consequently subject to many adverse conditions 
unknown in the tropics. 

As a work of national importance, calculated directly to benefit 
widely separated sections of the country, it is one that has been wisely 
undertaken and encouraged by the Department of Agriculture, and is 
deserving of every aid that Congress may be willing to grant for its 
encouragement and prosecution. 

The sugar-planter of Louisiana and Texas may possibly discover that 
he has at command, in one or more of the larger varieties of sorghum, 
which, like the so-called ''Honduras," "Mastodon,' 7 &c, attain at ma- 
turity, say in four or five months, a growth of 18 to 20 feet in height, and 
a weight of 2 to 5 pounds per stalk, a sugar-producing plant thoroughly 
adapted to his climate and soil, equal, and possibly superior, in product- 
ive capacity of cane-sugar to the "Bibbon, 77 "Bed," or "White" cane 
now grown there, and escaping the perils from frost which always attend 
the cultivation of the cane in those regions where the season is never 
long enough to permit its full maturity. 

Of the early maturing varieties, like "Early Orange," it will be 
possible in southern latitudes to make two crops of sugar and seed in 
one season, and these, alternating with varieties of longer periods, may 
extend the sugar crop over nearly half the year.* 

FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS DESIRABLE. 

The important work of the past four years at the Department of 
Agriculture, while it has made substantial additions to our former 

* We cite in this connection the following letters from Col. H. B. Richards, of La 
Grange, Texas, the first to Mr. Hedges, and quoted in his communication in Appen- 
dix XV : 

" But now let me tell you about my Orange cane. It is no longer doubtful at all but 
that the Orange cane will become in this climate perennial, and after this year I will 
only plant every two years. I have tested it now effectually for two years, and am 
convinced that the stubbles will stand colder weather and more of it than those of 
the Ribbon cane. 

"My cane from last year's stubbles has larger stalks, is taller, and in every w ay ahead 

of the earliest seed cane at this tin e. 

* * # * * # * 

"Yours truly, 

"HENRY B. RICHARDS. 
"La Grange, Fayette County, Texas, April 8, 1882." 

Also his communication to the Chairman of this Committee, given in full in the 
Appendix (p. — ), of date September 25, 1882, in which he adrls the experience of the 
present season, substantially confirming and extending his former statements. 



SOKGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 25 

knowledge, leaves yet much to be accomplished in the same general 
direction. 

To be of practical utility to the farmer, the work of the laboratory 
must be put to the test of experience, that the principles deduced from 
research in the small way and in a single or a limited number of seasons 
may be extended to meet various and possibly unfavorable conditions, 
and over a sufficient area and period of time to permit of a careful and 
thorough investigation under fairly average conditions. 

Among the more important points yet to be investigated may be 
mentioned the ascertainment by direct working tests on a manufactur- 
ing, or at least a large experimental, scale of the relation existing be- 
tween the actual manufacturing yield and the proportion of available 
sugar, deduced from the analysis in accordance with the results of our 
j)revious experience with the juice of the sugar-cane and beet. This 
point is essential to the realization of the greatest practical benefit 
from the work already accomplished in the course of this extended 
investigation. 

A large number 01 new sorts of sorghum from China, India, and 
Africa, have lately come to hand "wholly unknown, and among them 
many important varieties never before on trial. 

The whole subject of the best methods of defecation, the use of lime, 
of sulphurous acid and the bisulphites, of strontia, the affusion of cold 
water, and other untried means, is in a state requiring further examina- 
tion and experiment before the important conditions on which much of 
the success of the sugar industry depends can be properly settled. 

The question of the use of fertilizers, what they should be, and how 
used, is in an unsatisfactory condition, as can be seen by reference to 
the results at the Department of Agriculture, those at the New Jersey 
Agricultural Experiment Station, and also those of Professor Swenson 
in 1882, reported in the Appendix. 

Here also, at the Department of Agriculture, alleged improvements 
in methods of culture and manufacture, which are liable not infre- 
quently to mislead the people, occasioning disappointment or loss, can 
be tested with an authority which^is found only in the impartial con- 
clusions reached by official examination or experiment in competent 
hands. 

The Department of Agriculture, with its varied resources, scientific 
skill, mechanical appliances, and extended correspondence, coupled 
with the enormous circulation of its publications, can do this work as 
it cannot be done elsewhere. 

THE ANALYTICAL METHODS EMPLOYED. 

The Committee, after a careful examination of the analytical methods 
employed by the Chemical Division of the Department of Agriculture, 
find that they are entirely sufficient for the work to be done. The de- 
tails of the processes for the volumetric determination of sucrose and 
grape-sugar are fully exhibited on pages 9-11 of Special Eeport 33, 
and in the Annual Keport of 1879, pages 66, 67 * These methods have 
been skillfully adapted to the character of the proximate constituents 
of the complex juices to be analyzed, and are among the best known to 
science. 



* The limits of error, as shown to the Committee from a considerable number of 
unpublished determinations, sustain the conclusion that the method employed for 
the estimation of cane and grape sugars was exceptionally accurate, and more sub- 
ject to a minus error of 0.2 per cent, on a 10 per cent, solution of pure sugar than to 
a plus error. 



26 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

These methods have been employed with precautions adapted to the 
exigencies of the special problems for the solution of which the investi- 
gation has been instituted. By a judicious system of checks and con- 
trol, and by the reduction to the lowest limit of the personal error of 
the observer, the accuracy and constancy of the results have been as- 
sured as far as, in the present state of our knowledge, such end can well 
be attained. 

The care with which the methods for the determination of cane-sugar 
have been tested, and the probable error determined, enlists our confi- 
dence. The reserve with which the Chemist has refrained from accept- 
ing the results as conclusive, until by repetition and variation in the 
methods he had exhausted the mea«s at his command to prove them to 
be erroneous, is in the true spirit of scientific research. 

The analytical work prior to 1882 comprises the enormous number of 
nearly 4,500 analyses of forty varieties of sorghum and twelve varie- 
ties of maize, covering all the later stages of development of the grow- 
ing plant. The average results of these analyses, conspicuously dis- 
played in the form of graphical charts, afford a connected view of the 
progressive development of the juice through the various preliminary 
stages to and beyond the point of complete maturity. 

Such an amount of analytical work as is implied in the careful con- 
duct of nearly five thousand quantitative analyses, with a rather lim- 
ited number of assistants, and in an inconveniently arranged and con- 
tracted laboratory, was rendered possible only by the most rigid system 
and subdivision of labor in the work — a system in which each assistant 
was, for the time, devoted exclusively to one thing, e. #., determinations 
of density by the balance, volumetric determinations of glucose and 
sucrose, polarizations, ash determinations, total solids, ash analyses, 
analyses of the seed, quantitative determinations of acids and other 
proximate constituents of the juices at seventeen different stages of 
growth of the {riant and after maturity. By this system each coworker 
became thoroughly expert as a specialist in his own duty; and it was 
thus possible by this system to test the accuracy of the work by sub- 
mitting identical samples in duplicate and separate numbers for analysis 
by the same and by different coworkers — a crucial test of verification. 

The Committee have critically examined the work done in this way, 
and for the details, showing a surprising agreement, refer to the appen- 
dix (p. 142). 

COMPARATIVE RESULT OF ANALYSIS AND POLARIZATION. 

The optical method of determination of sugar values, now commonly 
employed by sugar boilers, has found a wide term of comparison with 
the analytical results in the sorghum and maize sugar researches of the 
Department of Agriculture. 

The comparisons in 1879-1881, between large numbers of determin- 
ations by the cuprous precipitation and by polariscope appeared to 
sustain the opinion that there was a pretty constant difference in favor 
of the volumetric method, i. e., that the polariscope for some unknown 
reason failed to detect as much sugar as was demonstrated by the method 
of precipitation. These differences are set forth below, together with 
the very satisfactory results of over five hundred similar determinations 
made in 1882, from which it clearly appears that the discrepancy form- 
erly noticed is apparent and not real. This conclusion removes any 
doubt which hung over the practical value of the optical method ; and 
this is practically of much moment, for in the rapid operations of the 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



27 



sugar plantation, during the pressure of the crop, the polariscope is 
nearly the sole dependence of the superintendent in judging many 
times daily how his juices are running. 

In 1879 this comparison was, between sorghum and sugar-cane, as fol- 
lows: 



Sorghum . . 
Sugar-cane 



Kumber of 
pual 



22 
G 



Average su- 
crose by 
volumetric 
analyses. 



Per cent. 
13.26 
13.30 



Average su- 
crose bypo- 
lariscope. 



Per cent. 
13.15 
13.09 



In 1881 the number of these comparisons was very greatly increased, 
being between 697 analyses of sorghum and 103 analyses of maize. 

Calling the value of the sucrose, as found by analysis, 100, the value 
indicated by the polariscope was 94.87 for the maize, and 95.96 for the 
sorghum. The nearly constant difference of about 4 per cent, less su- 
crose, as determined by these polariscope tests, than was found by cu- 
prous precipitation, was, for the time, attributed to a portion of invert 
sugar, and to various causes which probably were misconceptions, 
seeing that this discrepancy disappears almost entirely in the results of 
the present year, viz : Number of analyses and polarizations 517, of some 
forty varieties of sorghum. 

Total polarization, 5,440.76 ; average percentage, 10.524. 

Total by analysis, 5,433.72: average percentage, 10.510. 
10.510: 10.524 = 100: 100.13. 

Each result of the 517 is of record, but the general result given suf- 
fices. The conclusion seems justified that any differences existing in 
the polarization and analyses with normal fresh juices are only differ- 
ences incidental to the work, and are not caused by any active rotatory 
substance present other than sucrose. If the juice is abnormal, very 
wide differences may exist. This was conspicuous in the mill work at 
the Department in 1881, both in juices and sirups. 

SUMMARY. 



The facts relating to the economical production of crystallizable cane- 
sugar on a scale profitable to the farmer and manufacturer, from sor- 
ghum, in this country, so far as developed by the existing state of 
laboratory and field practice, appear to the Committee to be as follows, 
viz: 

1st. That these plants develop at maturity, and when the seed is ripe, 
a maximum of cane sugar and a minimum of glucose.* 

2d. That the maximum of cane-sugar in sorghum juices is found as- 
sociated with about one-tenth its weight of grape-sugar (glucose), and 
not far from one-fifth its weight of "solids not sugar," viz, ash, gum, 
chlorophyll, albumen, wax, aconitic acid, &c. 

3d. That after maturity the relative amounts and proportions of the 

* Some of tlie widely discrepant statements by different observers may find, in part, 
an explanation from the fact developed by tbe late investigation of Dr. Collier, tbat 
in sorghum tbe sucrose appears to fall off or come to rest during tbe ripening of tbe 
seed, and tben again after to increase. Tbis interesting point has been fully devel- 
oped only by tbe work of tbe year 1882, tbe full details of which will be found in tbe 
Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture for 1882. 



28 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

chief factors vary but little, even for a period of three months* or more, 
provided the season does not change; e, #., an early maturing variety 
of sorghum holds its own until frost ; a later variety has a shorter work- 
ing period. 

4th. That while varieties of sorghum differ greatly in rapidity of 
growth and time of reaching maturity, in size, weight, and consequent 
yield per acre, it appears that all varieties of sorghum resemble each 
other in developing at maturity, under the same conditions, nearly the 
same maximum percentages of cane-sugar, glucose, and solids, the cane- 
sugar maxima varying from 14 to 16 per cent, of the total weight of the 
expressed juice, the other factors being as stated under 2d.f 

5th. The soil best adapted to the growth of a good crop of sorghum 
for sugar appears to be a sandy loam.J This plant thrives on soils and 
in climates too light and dry for maize, and makes the best "stand" 
when grown closer than Indian corn admits in a given locality. 

6th. While good sirup may be produced from sorghum as a domestic 
industry and on a limited scale over a very wide range of country, the 
successful production of crystallized sugar on a commercial scale ap- 
pears to demand the skill and appliances of a sugar-house conducted 
in a systematic manner and with ample capital. 

7th. The best results in sugar are obtained only when the ripe cane 
is manufactured on the same day (twenty -four hours) in which it is cut 
from the field. 

8th. The seed of ripe sorghum is a valuable feed crop, comparable 
for fattening animals with maize, and in product is equal to from 2J to 4 
bushels per ton of cane. 

9th. About 40 per cent, of the juice of sorghum is lost in the begasse, 
as it is to nearly the same extent in tropical sugar-cane, more than one- 
half of which loss may possibly be saved to the crop by processes under 
investigation. 

10th. Of other residual products, the scum and sediment, rich in vari- 
ous elements of fertility, are now thrown away. (For the constituents 
of these waste products see the analyses at foot of page 29.) 

The begasse, when treated by a pulping machine, gives a valuable 
paper stock. Treated as a fertilizer, the begasse will return to the soil 
a portion of what the plant has borrowed from it in its growth. In 
regions where fuel is dear the begasse can be used with advantage as 
fuel. 

* A longer working period than three months has developed itself by the experience 
n Texas upon the "Orange" variety. See letter of Colonel Richards of date Sep- 
tember 25, 1882, in the Appendix. 

tThis generalization appears fully justified by the work done at the Department 
of Agriculture and for the latitude of Washington ; but it is yet an open question 
how far different sorts of sorghum may vary with climate and soil, two factors of 
commanding importance as yet imperfectly known. 

{For considerations of soil and climate, as well as fertilizers, reference may be had 
to the text, where these subjects are discussed, as well as to various statements in 
the Appendix. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



29 



PRODUCTION OF SUGAR FROM SORGHUM — FAILURE AND SUCCESS. 



Repeated failures in the cultivation of sorghum for crystallized sugar 
as a commercial undertaking had naturally produced distrust of all 
attempts to renew an industry attended already by many disappoint- 
ments. It is not, therefore, without reason that some decided successes 
in making sugar from sorghum on a large manufacturing scale should 
be demanded before these unfavorable convictions should yield to new 
evidence. 

Considering the former discordant and unsettled state of opinion on 
this subject, as already set forth in the opening of this report, we can 
hardly wonder that failure was the rule and success the exception in 
the former attempts to produce sugar from sorghum. The juice of 
sorghum even in its best state of development is an extremely delicate 
and unstable solution of sugar, passing rapidly from sucrose to glucose 
under the influence of various factors which act to transform it, unless 
manipulated with skill and in suitable apparatus. These conditions are 
rarely met at the hands of the small or unskillful cultivator or manu- 
facturer. Hence sirup and not sugar was the result in the great majority 
of attempts at sugar making ; a result by no means without consider- 
able value to the farmer, however unsatisfactory to the sugar boiler. 
These negative results in the light of our present knowledge and expe- 
rience prove nothing but the want of attention to conditions essential 
to success. 



FAILURE AT THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN 1S81. 

The failure to obtain not only sugar, but even a reasonable quantity 
of sirup, from the sorghum crop planted in 1881 for the Department of 
Agriculture on about 135 acres of land near Washington, is an illus- 
tration of the importance of adhesion in practice to the principles de- 
veloped in the laboratory. 

It appears from the full statements of the Report of 1882 that, owing 
to various causes, much of the Washington crop was three times planted, 



Analyses of sediment and scum of sorghum in sugar making. 



Ether extract, wax, fat, chlorophyl, <fcc 
Alcohol extracts, sugars, resins, &c... 

Water extract, gum, <fcc 

Insoluble in ether, alcohol, and -water . 

Ash, per cent 

Potash (K 2 0) 

Soda (ISTazO) 

Lime (CaO) 

Magnesia (MgO) 

Sulphuric acid (SO3) 

Chlorine (CI) 

Phosphoric acid (P2O5) 

Silica 

Sand, &c 

Nitrogen, per cent 



Sedi- 
ment. 



2.55 



Scum. 



Per cent. 


Per cent. 


16.28 


9.53 


8.06 


27.00 


33.81 


38.83 


40.86 


23.98 


99.01 


99.34 


19.49 


13.07 


12.36 


19. 81 


3.87 


6.03 


32.13 


26.43 


2. 42 


1.92 


1.04 


2.62 


2.34 


6.02 


6.18 


2.39 


27.81 


23.40 


10.01 


10.93 


98.16 


99.55 



1.46 



These analyses are from Dr. Collier. 



30 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. . 

the last planting being after the middle of June,* thus producing a 
very imperfect crop, little, if any, of which was in a fit state to be cut 
and manufactured. 

On this point the statements of Peter Lynch, the sugar boiler, are con- 
clusive, there being, as he says, but two days, October 4 and 5, when he 
received cane in even a reasonably mature state, and from this he readily 
produced sugar. The report of Assistant Parsons, who had immediate 
charge of the chemical and other work in the mill, will be read with 
interest as a conclusive statement of the several causes of failure made 
by an expert of ample experience. 

The insignificant quantity of seed obtained from 93J acres of sorghum 
(the other 40 odd acres were too immature to be cut before severe frost), 
viz, 150 bushels, or If bushels per acre, is sufficient evidence of the im- 
maturity of this crop as a whole, and sufficiently explains why even the 
sirup fell far below the normal quantity. 

A reference to the statement of Professor Cook, of New Jersey, State 
chemist (see Appendix 1, p. 74), shows that the yield of seed from 700 
acres of sorghum in that State in 1881 was, even from an imperfect crop, 
20 bushels to the acre. 

COMPARATIVE FAILURE OF THE FARIBAULT WORKS. 

The statement of Captain K. Blakely, of Saint Paul, is of interest in 
this connection. In his letter to this Committee, of date April 18, 1882, 
he states the results obtained by him at the Fairbault works, very im- 
perfectly constructed and disadvantageously placed for the delivery 
of cane, which were commercially a failure, although producing some 
15,000 pounds of good sugar, samples of which he has placed in our 
hands. This witness states his conviction that sorghum sugar — 

Is to be one of the great industries of this country. * * * If it can have the 
fostering care of the Government until it can be established, it will astonish the 
country. 

SUCCESSES. 

One signal success, on a large scale, obtained by intelligent attention 
to the results of experimental research and skillful culture, opens the 
way to a repetition of like results. Among the following examples are 
several of an equivocal nature, presented simply as illustrative of the 
importance of observing closely the conditions essential to success, as 
now made clear to cultivators by the researches of Dr. Collier, but 
which before this time were imperfectly understood or very badly applied 
^ven by fairly intelligent operators. 

* "Notes on sorghum planted on Dr. J. W. Dean's farm 1881," are in the hands of 
this Committee, being a diary of his work in planting and cultivating 44 acres of 
sorghum for the Department of Agriculture. By this record it appears that the Hon- 
duras planted May 14, 15, and 16, was replanted June 2, and that he, "June 18, began 
second replanting of Honduras," and "June 20, finished second replanting of Hon- 
duras," and June 20, "began second replanting of Early Orange"; June 21, "finished 
Early Orange 10 a. m., and began second replanting of Liberian"; "June 22, finished 
replanting Liberian ; June 29, used Early Amber in replanting a few rows of Liberian 
and began second replanting of Neazana." 

Also Mr. L.J. Culver, the farmer who sowed about 60 acres of sorghum for the 
Department of Agriculture in 1881, makes the following statement of his planting : 

" On Tuesday, May 10, commenced planting, using Link's Hybrid and Early Amber 
seed ; planted about 30 acres of each variety, but very little of it sprouted, owing 
to the cold damp weather that immediately followed the sowing. On May 27, com- 
menced replanting the same varieties. This lot of seed was nearly all destroyed by 
worms. June 7, commenced replanting the third time, and finished the work June 
18. The third lot of seed was rolled in coal tar, in order to drive away the worms. 
It sprouted quickly, but on July 15 cane did not average one foot in height. Com- 
menced harvesting on September 19." (See Agricultural Report for 1882.) 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 31 

It is from the States of New Jersey and Illinois that we are able to 
cite examples of success on so large a scale and attended with such a 
satisfactory result as fairly puts to rest any doubts as to the production 
of sugar on a great scale, in a northern climate, with a commercial 
profit. Our first knowledge of the New Jersey enterprise came from 
the last year's report of Professor Cook, director of the Agricultural 
Station, but for the current year we are able to record the personal 
observations of several members of this Committee and others. 

We cite as follows from Professor Cook's report, 1881: 

1st. The State of New Jersey has, at its Experiment Station, made, 
during the year 1881, a series of well-conducted trials in sorghum cul- 
ture and sugar production, the full details of which will be found in 
the report of the director, Professor George H. Cook. (See Appendix, 
document, p. 7.1.) 

From this document it appears that, during the autumn of 1881, the 
sorghum cane of 700 acres of land was worked for sugar at the sugar- 
house of Charles M. Hilgert. This sugar-house has been built at Eio 
Grande, Cape May County, New Jersey, at a cost of about $60,000. 
The product of crystallized sugar was sold to refiners at 7 and 8 cents 
a pound. The yield, although not as large as expected, is still regarded 
as satisfactory. Owing to the " drought of unprecedented severity and 
length," tbe farmers of that region, who calculated on a yield of 10 tons 
of cane and 30 bushels of seed per acre, actually obtained only about 
5 tons cane and 20 bushels of seed, which sold for 65 cents per bushel. 
This trial was so far satisfactory that it is proposed to work the product 
of about 1,000 acres of land for sugar the coming season (1882) at the 
Eio Grande Sugar Works. 

October, 1882. — The foregoing statement applies to the experience of 
the past year. We are now able to add the following information 
obtained by a personal examination of the plantation and sugar works 
of the Eio Grande Sugar Company, Cape May County, New Jersey. 
This company are the present owners of the before-named works and 
also of 2,400 acres of land, chiefly of a light and not fertile soil, being 
on the peninsula between Delaware Bay and the sea, within 5 or 6 miles 
of Cape May and 75 miles south from Philadelphia. April 19, 1882, 
and following, they put in of — 

Acres . 

Amber cane 958 

Link's Hybrid '25 

Early Orange 23 

Honduras 2 

By actual survey 1, 008 

Warned by former experience, the company determined to own and 
cultivate its own cane. The very cold and wet spring occasioned the 
loss of a considerable portion of the first planting, the loss being also 
due in part to deep planting by unskillful hands.* 

* It is important to note here, as showing some of the practical difficulties attend- 
ing the introduction of a new industry, that the farmers charged with the planting 
of this crop, and naturally confounding it with maize, persisted in planting the seed 
about 4 inches deep, and in rows 4 feet apart and 4 feet between hills, while in point of 
fact the seed requires to be lightly covered, only one inch sufficing, and in rows 3 
fegt apart, the plants only a few inches asunder, or in hills of many seed to the hill. 

Very much of the deeply planted seed perished ; while that lightly covered and in 
close rows made a fine " stand," requiring only to be thinned out by hand of the weak 
plants. 

The very severe gales and torrents of rain, which swept over this county Septem- 
ber 22 to 25, left no trace of injury in these broad acres of sorghum, as we first saw 
them, September 28, while the adjacent corn-fields were prostrated. 



32 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

The deficient portions were replanted in June, leaving such portions 
of the first planting as came up, to grow together with the second 
planting. This circumstance worked considerably to the injury of such 
portions of the crop, and reduced the exponent of sugar notably. Not- 
withstanding this untoward circumstance, the crop, as we first saw it, 
near the close of September, presented a noble spectacle of vast fields 
of luxuriant cane ready for the rolls, and still full of vigor, and of a 
deep green color. The Amber cane stood about 8 to 10 feet in height. 
The Orange and Link's Hybrid was higher, being from 12 to 14 feet. 
The Amber cane only was ripe at that time, and the harvesting had 
been in progress from the 28th of August, at the rate of 120 to 150 
tons of cane delivered daily to the mill; which is the present limit of 
the floors to accommodate the sugar wagons. The mill is a powerful 
apparatus of three rolls, each 5 feet long and 30 inches in diameter, 
driven by a steam engine of 125 horse-power, crushing the cane with 
an opening of only one- sixteenth inch between the rolls. The stalks 
are not stripped, only the seed heads are removed in the fields. This 
mill is capable of crushing 300 tons or more daily, but the floor space 
of the works limits the output as before stated. The product of sugar 
exceeds the expectations of the projectors. 

The Amber cane on a large area stands not less than 10 tons to the 
acre on about 700 acres ; the exact figures for the whole crop can be 
given only when the account is fully made up.* Each day's cutting is 
accurately recorded, and so much can how be safely stated. 

We saw the "strike" of the vacuum pan of 1,600 gallons on the 28th 
of September, and again on the 1st of October, filling nine wagons, of 
one ton capacity each, with u melada" yielding 2 J to 3 barrels of sugar 
to the ton. 

The yield of sugar to the wagon would be, by estimate, greater by 
about half a barrel (the barrel holds 355 pounds) if more time could be 
allowed for it to stand before going to the centrifugals. 

From the mill the green juice flows to a tank of 1,000 gallons capac- 
ity, whence it is pumped to defecators, after which it is hurried through 
the open pans to the vacuum pan, where it is reduced to about 32° B. ? 
and thence to the larger pan of 1,600 gallons, where it is raised to about 
45° B., at a temperature of about 140° F. There are two " strikes" of 
this pan daily. The lack of space for cooling compels at present the 
working of the melada in the centrifugals, of which there are four, 
before it is completely cooled, so diminishing, as just stated, by prob- 
ably a half barrel, the yield of " firsts." 

We examined the books of Mr. Henry A. Hughes, the superintend- 
ent, who is a sugar-boiler of twenty years' exyjerience, which showed 
the juice of the daily workings, as tested by polariscope, to have a co- 
efficient of from 10° to 12° for the raw juice, which is polarized several 
times daily. For the week, ending the day of our first visit, 656 tons 
of cane were crushed, yielding 115 barrels of sugar of 88°, and 89 bar- 
rels of molasses of 47°. This first sugar was equal to 63 pounds to the 
ton of cane crushed. f 

* About 250 acres of the laud under cultivation this year were cleared of woods 
and shrubs too late to admit the use of lime before plowing and applying the guano. 
The result is very conspicuous in the diminished growth of cane, which, on this tract, is 
not over 5 tons to the acre, while on other land 7, 8, and 9 tons are cut on several hun- 
dred acres, and as high as 17^ tons of Amber cane, by actual survey. Ten toirs of 
Amber may probably be a fair average product for this year, as estimated by the super- 
intendent at the early part of October. 

t Owing to the lack of space and the pressure of the crop, the molasses of this 
year's crop is held back until the crushing is over, when, unless sold at a satisfactory 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 33 

The fertilizers used on the land of this plantation this year were 
about 25 bushels of lime, followed by 150 pounds of Peruvian guano, 
having as much sulphate of ammonia added as raised the nitrogen to 
8 per cent. This guauo cost $53 per ton. A few acres were treated, as 
an experiment, with fair results, with barnyard manure. On about 20 
acres lish guano alone was used, the effect of which was to reduce the 
available sugar by about 1° on the polariscope. On the whole, the lime, 
guano, and stable manure gave good results. Greensand marl, which 
abounds in New Jersey, remains to be tested hereafter.* 

The crushing of the cane with leaves settles one of the " sorghum 
questions " on which there has been much difference of opinion. In 
practice, on a large scale, the removal of leaves would involve an im- 
practicable amount of labor. In the 1879 Eeport of the Department of 
Agriculture, p. 59, are experimental results showing an increase of both 
juice and sirup from the crushing of the entire plant (seeds excepted). 
A small loss of available sugar and a gain of sirup will probably result 
from crushing the blades with the stalks; a subject requiring further 
examination. 

It is by no means improbable that in the plant's life the sucrose is 
elaborated directly in the leaf, and is gradually transferred to the 
stalk, where it accumulates, t 

The full returns for the crop of this year will not be in before the 
closing of this report. But we are able to state, from a communication 
of date November 8, 1882, from the president, that the probable results 
of the season's work, ending with November 11, are as follows : 6,000 
tons of cane ; 950 barrels of first sugar, and 1,100 barrels, 50 gallons 
each, of molasses. The seed is not yet measured, and a full balance- 
sheet remains to be made up which may perhaps come in season to be 
added to this report. 

The Orange cane turns out rather better than the Amber, being 
richer in juice and with an average test of 13° B. 

This Committee have received from Mr. Knight, the sugar refiner in 
Philadelphia, a barrel of the sugar, sample of a lot of 350 barrels refined 
by him, of the Rio Grande Sugar Company. It ranks, on the independ- 
ent judgment of experienced grocers to whom we have shown it, as 
"O" sugar. 

price, it will be worked for residual sugar. It may be well to state that it is found 
in practice that the second crop of crystals (technically called " seconds") is about 
ODe-half the first yield, and the third crystallization gives about one-half the "sec- 
ond" ; so, if the " firsts" are 60 pounds to the ton of cane, the " seconds" will be 30 
pounds, and the "thirds" 15 pounds, or, in the aggregate, 105 pounds to the ton of 
cane. 

The seed gathered from the Amber cane on the Rio Grande plantation, this year, 
measures, as we are informed by Mr. Hughes, the superintendent, 20 bushels average 
to the acre of cane cultivated ; the yield from the Orange is 2 bushels per ton. 

"*The whole subject of fertilizers remains to be investigated by well-directed and 
carefully recorded experiments, both in the laboratory, the field, and the sugar-mill. 
The begasse and defecation scum pressed in cakes by the filter-press are believed to 
be of value as elements of fertilization ; and the stubble which springs with luxuri- 
ant growth as an aftermath may be of more value to the next crop if turned in as a 
green crop than if employed as forage. The questions of over fertility and rotation 
remain to be solved by experience. All we know, at present, is that the sorghum 
appears to thrive best for sugar on soils not too highly fertilized, and naturally of a 
light sandy loam. 

tFor additional statements respecting the Rio Grande plantation and mill, see the 
letters in the Appendix from Capt. R. Blakeley, of Saint Paul, Minn., and Mr. Harry 
McCall, a sugar planter from Donaldsonville, La. Also, in the same connection, a 
letter from Mr. George C. Potts, president of this company, to the Tariff Commission, 
and a copy of the blank form for returns of the mill, &c, required to be sworn by the 
superintendent to secure from the State of New Jersey the bounty provided iu the 
act of that State, as mentioned in the letter of Mr. Potts. 

S. Mis. 51 3 



34 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

Analyses of the soils of different fields are now in progress, to de- 
termine, if possible, the causes which influence such very unlike pro- 
ductiveness as the experience of the season of 1882 has shown to exist. 
The differences of yields being per acre, 3J (guano, no lime), 5J (guano, 
no lime), 7J, 8, 15, and 17 tons, respectively. 

3d. The Illinois Industrial University, at Champaign, 111., have pub- 
lished a report " on the manufacture of sugar, sirup, and glucose from 
sorghum," by Henry A. Weber, Ph. D., professor of chemistry, and 
Melville A. Scovell, M. S., professor of agricultural chemistry (1881). 
The authors say: 

From the approximate analysis of the [1880] cane, it appears that one acre of sor- 
ghum produces 2,559 pounds of cane-sugar. Of this amount we obtained 710 pounds 
in the form of good brown sugar and 265 pounds were left in the 737 pounds of mo- 
lasses drained from the sugar. Hence, 62 per cent, of the total amount of sugar was 
lost or changed during the process of manufacture. This shows that the method of 
manufacture in general use is very imperfeot. 

In 1881 the results of an experiment on three-sixteenths of an acre of 
land are, as calculated on one ton of topped and stripped cane : 

Pounds. 

Weight of juice 834.4 

Weight of sugar i 77. 2 

Weight of molasses 119.7 

In 1882 the results of the sugar-mill at Champaign, 111., are reported 
as being very satisfactory to owners. 

A sample of the sugar made October 19 ("product of yesterday's run 
of 3,600 pounds "), which reached us a few days later, was found to be 
of excellent quality, completely free from any trace of sorghum flavor r 
nearly white, and polarizing 97° .0. We learn from the report (see Ap- 
pendix, p. 78) of this year's work up to October 28 that bone-black is 
used at the Champaign works, in which respect they differ from the Rio 
Grande mill, wnere no bone is used. 

Professor Scovell has written us the following letter referring to the 
partial report, which will be found in the Appendix : 

Champaign, III., October 30, 1882. 

Dear Sir : I inclose a partial report of our doings at this factory this year. We 
will not he through grinding for a week yet, and will not he able to finish "seconds," 
&c, for at least a month. The report is as full as we could make it at this date. The 
results are creating much enthusiasm in the West. We have many visitors from 
abroad every day. 

There is no question in my mind but that the production of sugar from sorghum will 
he a great industry. 
Very truly, 

M. A. SCOVELL. 

. Prof. B. SlLLIMAN. 

4th. The experimental farm of the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, 
in that State, have lately issued a report in compliance with legislative 
resolution, addressed to his excellency J. M. Rusk, governor, giving 
the results obtained in " Experiments of Amber Cane, &c, at the Exper- 
imental Farm, 1881." (See Appendix, document pp. 79-104.) 

Mr. Magnus Swenson, who conducted the sorghum-sugar experiments 
at the Experimental Farm, has sent to this Committee a sample of both 
white and light-brown sugar manufactured by him fjom sorghum juices. 

The yield of cane-sugar on two plots of land planted with Early Amber 
gave Mr. Swenson, for "Plot A," 923 pounds of cane-sugar and 103 gal- 
lons of sirup ; for "Plot B," 907J pounds sugar and 87 gallons of sirup, 
per acre. " I separated," he says in his letter to the Chairman, " in all 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 35 

about 1,200 pounds of sugar, samples of which I send you." Mr. S wen- 
son's reported details of work fully corroborate the results obtained at 
the Department of Agriculture. One hundred and eighty manufacturers 
in that State report having made about 350,000 gallons of Amber cane 
sirup last year, or about 2,000 gallons each. 

October, 1882, Professor Swenson writes as follows of the operations 
of his experimental works for the current year : 

University of Wisconsin, Agricultural Department, 

Madison, Wis., October 19, 1882. 
Dear Sir : My works on the University farm are in full operation. In spite of the 
very had season the yield is very satisfactory. I am making 60 gallons of sirup per 
day (12 hours). This, I think, will yield at least 350 pounds of sugar and 30 gallons 
of molasses. The total cost of running my works, including $2.50 per ton for cane and 
$5 for incidentals, is $27. The analyses of the defecated juice show an average of 
ahout 10.5 sucrose and 3 of glucose. I have now ready for the centrifugal about 
7,800 pounds of mush sugar. 
Very respectfully, 

M. SWENSON. 

Prof. B. SlLLIMAN, 

New Haven, Conn. 

Under date of October 30, Professor Swenson writes as follows:* 

I expected when I wrote to you last to have all my " first " sugar separated by this 
time, but the engine I have been using was sold, and I had to rent another, which 
caused some delay. I have separated only 1,000 pounds. The yield has so far been 
45 per cent, of the weight of the sirup. The sugar is of a light-yellow color, and is 
in every respect of a good quality. The cost will not exceed 5 cents per pound, even 
on this small experimental scale. I am very sorry that I cannot furnish you with 
more complete returns. I shall not be able to finish my work until the last of next 
week. Please remember me with a copy of your report when printed. 
Very respectfully, 

M. SWENSON. 

5th. Capt. E. Blakeley, Faribault Befinery, Minnesota. — Captain 
Blakeley's experience in the manufacture of sugar from sorghum has 
already been referred to, under a former head ; we add here his fuller 
statement of the case, which will be read with interest as a fair exposi- 
tion of the reasons for a partial success which he very candidly declares 
to have been a commercial failure, notwithstanding a considerable out- 
put of good " 0" sugar, of which he has supplied the Committee with 
a liberal sample. 

Saint Paul, Minn., April 18, 1882. 

Dear Sir : Some time since I received your circular asking for information on the 
subject of manufacture of sugar from sorghum. I have been very reluctant to re- 
spond, for the reason that I did not feel that I had, as yet, much information to give, 
but after thinking that possibly I had as much or more than any one else upon this 
subject, I have felt that I ought to make known what I have done, although little 
has yet been accomplished. 

In 1879 there was an attempt to build a sugar mill and refinery in this State at 
Faribault, which, like most new enterprises, wanted the proper machinery and means 
to make it a success, and after that season's work the company abandoned the effort. 

During the winter and spring of 1880 I was induced to take hold of the property, in 
hopes I might be able to make the effort to make sugar from sorghum a success. Dur- 
ing the season we made some 15,000 gallons of sirup. The cane was grown by persons 
who had never grown any for making sugar, and was quite inferior and badly 
handled; still, we made about 5,000 pounds of sugar of very nice quality, a sample 
of which is sent herewith. This amount of sugar was made from 1,200 gallons of 
sirup, or a little short of 5 pounds of first sugar from the gallon of sirup. 

During the season of 1881 we made our arrangements for what we hoped would 
prove a more complete and successful season, but were nearly or quite as badly dis- 
appointed as the season before, as the season proved bad for the growth of cane ; the 
harvest was very wet and the cane was nearly ruined before it could be delivered at 

* See final report from Prof. Swenson, p. 14(1. 



36 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

the works. Still we again made 7,000 pounds of a nice article of sugar similar to or 
better thau the season before. But we regarded the plan upon which we had pro- 
ceeded a bad one, and have suspended operations until we can place our mill upon a 
plantation of our own, and grow and harvest our own cane, as our experience for two 
seasons has convinced us that it is impossible to depend upon the farmers to properly 
grow and harvest the cane until they have had instruction and have been made to 
understand that this is the most profitable crop that can be grown in this State. 

There is no doubt of the success of this industry, and if it can have the fostering 
care of the Government until it can be established, it will astonish the country. With 
good cultivation, good land, and skillful manufacturing, an acre of land should pro- 
duce 1,000 pounds of sugar and 20 bushels of seed. The sugar will be worth in this 
market, if the present tariif is maintained, 8 cents per pound, and the seed is equal 
to corn to feed to cattle and hogs. 

I am thoroughly convinced that this is to be one of the great industries of this 
country. I am sorry to be compelled to make so poor a showing, but the mill was 
located in a village of 10,000 inhabitants, and, under the circumstances, it was not 
possible to make it a success. 

I shall look for the report of the Academy with the full assurance that it will con- 
firm all that I have said. 
Respectfully, 

R. BLAKELEY. 

Prof. Ben j. Siloman, 

Chairman of the Committee of 

National Academy of Natural Sciences, New Haven, Conn. 

6th. Mr. John B. Thoms, of the Crystal Lake Kefinery, Chicago, 111., 
in two communications of date April 10, 1882, to Chairman imparts the 
results of three years' working on a large scale. He is a practical sugar 
refiner of eight years' experience in the West Indies. In 1879 with a 
" miserable mill" he obtained juice of 8J° B. (sp. gr. 1.060), and from a 
gallon of sirup weighing 11 pounds got a yield of about 4£ pounds to 
the gallon. He obtained from 15 to 23 gallons of sirup to the ton of 
cane, weighing 11J pounds to the gallon, the sirup yielding 4J pounds 
sugar polarized 53° of Amber cane, which is the only sort he has worked; 
has known as high as 21 tons cut to an acre, and states 12 tons as an 
average. He sold of the crop of 1879 over 50,000 pounds of good " C " 
sugar, which was tested in Boston and New York, and polarized 96 J per 
cent, of sugar. In 1880 his crop of about 300 acres was nearly all de- 
stroyed by a hurricane, and the product of about 30 acres of damaged 
cane was all made into sirup which polarized only 42 per cent. For 
many details reference is made to his communications given in the Ap- 
pendix p. 119. It will be observed that he cites an experiment for the 
production of sugar from corn-stalks (maize) in 1880, which was a fail- 
ure, the stalks of sweet corn a in the milk" not furnishing juice enough 
to pay expenses. 

7th. Mr. A. J. Russell, of Janesville, 111., writes to the Chairman, of 
date March 22, that he has obtained in his own practical experience 
u 280 gallons of sirup to an acre of land, and 7£ pounds of sugar per 
gallon," or 2,100 pounds sugar per acre; very light yellow, and polar- 
ized 96-!% per cent. The sirup was of a very light straw color, trans- 
parent, and free from sorgho flavor, ranking with choice New Orleans 
molasses. The yield of seed was from 25 to 40 bushels, and sold for 50 
cents per bushel as food for stock. In an earlier communication to 
the Commissioner of Agriculture of date December 28, 1881, Mr. Eussell 
states the yield per ton of cane to be from 9 to 20 gallons, and sugar 
from 1 to 9J pounds per gallon, varying with the greater or less per- 
fection of the machinery, processes, &c. But he cites as an average in 
his experience, 10 tons cane per acre, 14 gallons sirup per ton of cane, 7 J 
pounds of sugar,per gallon of sirup, 2 J cents per pound as cost of sugar. 
While, in good growing seasons on good land, he cites from experienced 
farmers the opinion that the product per acre is 20 tons cane, of 17 gal- 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 37 

Ions sirup density per ton, and 9£ pounds sugar per gallon. If the manu- 
facturer purchases the cane from the farmer, the cost of the sugar is put 
at 3J cents per pound. These letters are in the Appendix, p. 118. 

8th. George W. Chapman, secretary Eice County Farmers' Club r . 
Kansas, writes of date February 4, 1882, to the honorable Commis- 
sioner of Agriculture : 

I worked up last season 75 acres of cane, Amber and Honduras. Amber yielded 9 
tone stripped and topped, and the Honduras 33£ tons raw stalk to the acre, being the 
largest yield of cane yet known in Kansas. * * * I made some sirup by an 
evaporator and it all granulated to a solid. 

From such a yield of cane as the Honduras here named it is easy to 
obtain over 3,000 pounds of crystallized sugar to the acre and 100 gal- 
lons of sirup. (See his letter in Appendix.) 

9th. While the sorghum sugar industry is comparatively an unex- 
plored field, no attempt having been made heretofore in any European 
country to investigate systematically the conditions" requisite for suc- 
cessful cultivation and utilization of the sorghum cane, the necessity of 
such investigations is strongly insisted upon by M. Basset, one of the- 
highest French authorities on the sugar industry, who devotes some 32 
pages of the third volume of his " Guide Pratique des Fabricant de 
Sucre" (Paris, 1875) to an impartial discussion of the question of the 
extraction of sugar from sorghum and maize stalks. On page 217 of the 
volume in question Basset describes two experiments on canes grown 
by himself at Paris from which he extracted in the first case 8 per cent., 
in the second 11 per cent., of the weight of the canes in crystallized 
sugar. In the first experiment the defecated and concentrated juice 
granulated after the first boiling in four days ; the second product from 
the molasses of the first product took a longer time for crystallization. 
On page 218 the same author expresses himself as follows: 

Nous croyons done que le sorgho offre un avenir s^rieux a l'industrie sucriere, et 
que cette plante, susceptible d'entrer avec avantage dans nos assolements culturaux, 
est appellee a devenir en France un puissant auxiliaire de la betterave. II ne faut 
pas songera opposer ces deux v6g6taux l'un a 1' autre; ce serait un acte de veritable 
folie; la betterave est indispensable a notre agriculture, et la prosperity de cette 
plante estli6e a cellede la production du pain, de la viande, de la laine, etc. ; ainsi 
qu'& l'amelioration du sol, on ne peut songer a supplanter ou a remplacer cette 
pr6cieuse racine. Cependant, pourquoi rejetterait-on sans examen s^rieux et sans 
experimentation, par mauvais vouloiret parti pris, un ve"ge"tal dont la richesse sac- 
charine peut venir en aide a la production sucriere ? Ce serait evidemment une faute 
impardonnable, et la fabrication compreudra facilement que e'est a elle a prendre les 
devants et a entrer dans une voie d' amelioration que la culture ndgligera pendant 
longtemps si elle ne se sent pas soutenuepar l'industrie. 

10th. Mr. S. W. Johnson, a member of this Committee, states that 
Messrs. Doolittle and Bartlett, farmers in New Haven County, Con- 
necticut, have for many years made a successful business on a consid- 
erable scale in growing sorghum and making melada for the supply of 
their neighbors in a home market. From this melada Mr. Johnson has 
prepared the two samples of "C" sugar submitted to the Academy 
herewith (samples of melada marked X and Y, and of crystallized sugar 
XX and YY). 

These results are obtained by open-pan evaporation and without 
special skill. The only point in which they differ from the practice of 
those who have produced chiefly sirup (glucose) without sugar is that 
they have permitted the canes to mature. The sirup made by them 
weighs 11 to 12 pounds per gallon, and crystallizes, on standing, into 
melada. 



38 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

11th. Clinton Bozarth, Cedar Kapids, Iowa, in his address before the 
Cane Growers' Association at Saint Louis, in January, 1882, as quoted 
in the Proceedings of that Convention, p. 19, gives in brief his success- 
ful experiments in the production of sugar and sirup on a large scale 
for twenty years. Samples of Mr. Bozarth's melada, sirup, and crys- 
tallized cane sugar are before us. 

12th. Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Cane Growers' Association. 
8vo., pp. 36. Saint Louis, 1882. This report contains the address of 
Mr. Bozarth, the above named, and numerous data from various culti- 
vators, together with a carefully considered address of Prof. W. H. 
Wiley, of La Fayette, Ind., on adulterations. 

13th. Sugar- Canes, and their products, culture, and manufacture. By 
Issac A. Hedges. 12mo., pp. 190, 1881. In this revised and enlarged 
edition of his well-known book, Mr. Hedges, who is a veteran in sor- 
ghum-sugar production, has brought together a considerable amount 
of important matter and original data bearing on this subject, which 
the Committee have consulted with advantage, and to which reference 
is made for many details of interest in the history of the development 
of this industry. 

14th. Joseph S. Lovering (1857), " Sorghum saccharanum, or Chi- 
nese Sugar-Cane." — Mr. Lovering's original memoir has become rare. 
It is, however, reproduced in Mr. Isaac A. Hedges's volume on " Sugar- 
Canes," pp. 123-140. The experiments of Mr. Lovering are of especial 
interest as showing how early in this industry many of the important 
poiuts needful for success in producing sugar from sorghum were 
clearly recognized and laid down. Mr. Clinton Bozarth, of Cedar 
Palls, Iowa, whose sugar samples are before us, says, in his late address 
at Saint Louis, that he has for over twenty years followed the rules 
laid down by Mr. Lovering with success. Yet so slowly do the most 
clearly stated principles reproduce themselves in practice that compar- 
atively few cultivators have followed the example of Mr. Bozarth. 

15th. The Jefferson Sugar Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of 
sugar and sirups from the juice of Cane and Corn Stalks. — The following 
letter from Mr. Henry Talcott, president of the company named, was 
written after his visit to the Bio Grande Sugar Works, and is of spe- 
cial interest from his statements respecting the absence of any ill effects 
of frost upon his cane, after repeated sharp freezings. His success 
with open-pan boiling is also valuable to the small farmer, and his final 
report after "swinging out" the sugar of his crop will be of general 
id te rest. 

Jefferson, Ashtabula County, Ohio, November 2, 1882. 

Dr. Peter Collier, 

Chemist, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C: 
* * * I have been endeavoring to secure a practical method of producing the 
same results which they have obtained at the Rio Grande Company's works — where 
I have just been to see for myself — that our farmers could all adopt with small means, 
and make this industry universal. I think our company can show the world as com- 
plete success in about four weeks as the Rio Grande have done, on a much smaller and 
simpler scale. We are now crushing and boiling from 10 to 15 tons of cane stalks 
daily ; have been doing this for four weeks past. Our returns in yield are the same in 
substance as the Rio Grande, but, unlike them, we have had ten or fifteen good hard, 
white frosts, some of them hard enough to freeze ice on water thick as window-glass. 
Our cane was standing in the fields; we are yet cutting it. I had 10 acres of it on my 
own farm. We see no ill effects from it in our work; we have made just as good a 
yield of juice ; it makes just as good sirup and sugar ; and all we have lost, as far as 
we can discover, is the leaves for our cattle fodder. Mr. G. C. Potts wished me to 
notify you of this fact on my return home, also to send you some samples of our 
work. We cook in open pans, by the Stewart process, only much more perfect than 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 39 

he ever did his work (except in theory). F. C. Kuight analyzed our mush sugar 
and finished sugar yesterday in their refinery, and pronounced it the purest and best 
sugar they ever saw. The sugar was our " second." This year's stock is still in our 
hot room granulating slowly, for we dare not cook it dry in open pans, for we are so 
liable to scorch it when near done ; so we make time and warm room do part of the 
work. We shall not use our centrifugal until the close of this month ; shall then 
have from 60,000 to 80,000 pounds of mush to work over. I shall make as complete 
and clear report of it to the Department as I possibly can; I shall also visit the 
Champaign Works in Illinois next week, and compare notes with them. I have an 
invitation to do so, and must see the bottom of this industry so far as it is practically 
developed. Of course the vacuum pan and animal-bone filter make the refined sugar 
at once — a specimen of it they sent me yesterday, and I inclose a little of it for you — 
but this expensive machinery, if it is more profitable, cannot be made to come in gen- 
eral use. Our farmers must do this work as handy as they can make good butter or 
cheese, to get them into it in any great numbers. Our factories are learning, many of 
them, to do the work, and several others are to-day making mush sugar at their own 
molasses factories, while we furnish them solution B and do their centrifugal work. 
I will send a little sample of sugar we purged yesterday for Mr. P. A. Upp, of Edger- 
ton, Williams County, Ohio, who made it under our directions, and then brought to 
the factory to see our works, and with his own eyes see finished sugar of his own 
make. I guess he was as well pleased with the result as any fond mother could well 
be with her first-born. He returned home with his sugar, and said he should now go 
shouting among his own people, for he had accomplished well what his people all 
said was an impossibility. 
Yours, respectfully, 

HENRY TALCOTT. 

16th. B. V. Bansom, of Salem, Nebr., is one among uiany farmers who 
has been successful in making both sirup and sugar from sorghum in a 
small way, and especially he deserves respectful notice for his accurate 
statements of his observations for 1881 and 1882, the full details of 
which will be found in the Appendix (p. 125). It is interesting to observe 
his remarks on the varieties of sorghum which he cultivates, and his 
mode of manufacture with open boiling and time defecation, by which 
he has worked out his success in a plain common-sense way. 

17th. 0. Conrad Johnson, Baltimore, Md., a sugar master of practical 
experience in San Domingo, W. I., has submitted to the Committee an 
elaborate statement expressing his views on the subject of sorghums, 
with reference to the prospective production of sugar from their juices 
as appears from an examination of Dr. Collier's results. Mr. Johnson's 
communication appears to the Committee so valuable, in view of his 
familiarity with the whole subject of sugar production, and the very 
practical view he takes of the investigation, and of the probable future 
of this industry, that his letter is presented in full in the Appendix, 
page 131. 



PAET II. 



CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY 



41 



CONCLUSION. 



SUMMARY OF RESULTS ALREADY OBTAINED AT THE DEPARTMENT 
OF AGRICULTURE IN WASHINGTON, D. C., AND ELSEWHERE IN 1HE 
UNITED STATES, IN THE PRODUCTION OF SUGAR AND MOLASSES FROM 
SORGHUM AND THE STALKS OF MAIZE.* 

The Committee find, as tke result of their investigation, by all the 
data which have come before them, as well as those obtained by the 
Department of Agriculture during the years from 1878 to 1882, both 
inclusive, and those derived from other parties in different sections of 
the United States, that the following points are established by an 
amount of investigation in the laboratory, and of practical experience 
in the field and factory, which have rarely been devoted to the solution 
of any industrial problem. 

The more important and well-established results are here enumerated, 
and are followed by a statement of certain practical and scientific points 
which still remain for future inquiry. 

A.— OF THE POINTS ALREADY SETTLED. 

1. — The presence of sugar in the juices of sorghum and maize 

STALKS. 

From records examined by this Committee, it appears that, during 
the three years prior to 1882, there have been made at the Department 
of Agriculture almost four thousand five hundred chemical analyses of 
the juices of about forty varieties of sorghum and of twelve varieties 
of maize. These analyses have shown the constitution of the juices of 
each variety at the successive stages in the development of the grow- 
ing plant. They not only confirm the well-known fact of the presence 
of sugar in the juices of these plants in notable quantity, but they also 
establish beyond cavil, what seems surprising to those who have not 
examined the facts, that the sorghum particularly, holds in its juices, 
when taken at the proper stage of development, about as much cane- 
sugar as the best sugar-cane of tropical regions. 

An examination of the analytical tables in the reports of Dr. Collier, 
synopses of which follow, will show that the juices of sorghum in cer- 
tain exceptional, but not isolated, cases were remarkable for the amount 
of cane-sugar they contained, viz : 

Of true crystallizable sugar in the juice — 

Per went 

5 analyses of five varieties gave over 19 

3 analyses of 17 Varieties gave over 18 

79 analyses of 23 varieties gave over 17 

152 analyses of 30 varieties gave over 16 

* Even at the risk of repeating some statements already made in the earlier por- 
tions of this report, the Committee consider it is better to review systematically in 
this summary the -whole ground they have gone over. 

4.3 



44 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

As compared with the juices of sugar-cane, which gave by analysis 
under 15 per cent, of sugar, these results are unexpected and surprising. 

But the average results obtained during long periods of working and 
from different varieties are of more value to the practical farmer than 
any exceptional instances. 

The average results obtained from 122 analyses of 35 different varie- 
ties of sorghum, and during a working period of one or another of the 
above varieties of at least three months in the latitude of Washington,, 
are as follows: 

Average results of analyses of juices of 35 varieties of sorghum. 



Sucrose .... per cent.. | 15. 99 15.94 116.61 j 16.18 

Glucose do.... 1.84 1.72 I 1.83 ' 1.80 

Solids do.... 3.01 3.20 | 3.01 ! 3.08 

Available sugar do.... 11.14 11.02 11.77 ■ 11.30 

Juice do.... I 60.25 58.95 ,56.51 58.57 

Specific gravity of juice I 1.082 1.081 1.081 ' 1.0812 

Number of analyses ! 40 j 37 45 322 



1- 


2. 


! 

3. 

! 


15.99 


15.94 


16. 61 


1.84 


1.72 


1.83 


3.01 


3.20 


3.01 


11.14 


11.02 


11. 77 ; 


60.25 


58.95 


56. 51 


1.082 


1.081 


1.081 ! 


40 


37 


45 

i 



Average. 



From this statement it will be seen that, as an average of all the 
analyses made during those three stages, there was obtained 58.57 per 
cent, of the weight of the stripped stalks in juice ; that 16.18 per cent. 
of the weight of this juice was crystallizable cane-sugar ; and that 11.30 
per cent, of the weight of the juice may be obtained as sugar by the 
ordinary process of manufacture.* 

By reference to the tables it will also be seen that of the eight varie- 
ties of maize examined in 1881, seven of which were of common field 
and one of sweet corn — 

Per cent, of cane-sugar. 

3 analyses of 3 varieties gave over 13 

9 analyses of 7 varieties gave over 12 

22 analyses of 7 varieties gave over 11 

29 analyses of 7 varieties gave over ^ 10 

35 analyses of 7 varieties gave over 9 

Of ten varieties of maize grown in 1880, the following results were 
obtained : 

Per cent, of cane-sugar. 

124 analyses of 10 varieties gave over 9 s 

90 analyses of 10 varieties gave over 10 

59 analyses of 9 varieties gave over 1 11 

24 analyses of 9 varieties gave over 12 

8 analyses of 4 varieties gave over 13 

2 analyses of 1 variety gave over 14 

1 analysis of 1 variety gave over 15 

In 1880 over sixty-two millions acres of our land were in maize, or 38 
per cent, of all the cultivated land of the United States. The amount 
of sugar thus apparently lost, calculated on the results obtained at the 
Department of Agriculture in the last three years, is equal to the pres- 
ent product of the entire world. It is premature to say that the profit- 

*The "available sugar" here stated is the amount of cane-sugar shown by analysis. 
less the sura of the glucose and solids not sugar ; e. g., in this case 16.18 per cent, less 
1.80 per cent. + 3.08 per cent. = 11.30 per cent. This mode of computation as has 
already been explained, gives a less probable quantity of available sugar than is 
shown by the method of " exponent," usually used by sugar-boilers. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 45 

able extraction of sugar from corn-stalks is demonstrated, but such a 
result may yet be possible.* 

2. — Practically little difference in the varieties of sor- 
ghum AS TO THEIR CONTENT OF SUGAR. 

The results of the investigations at the Department of Agriculture 
have shown the remarkable uniformity of the several varieties of sor- 
ghum as sugar-producing plants when fully developed ; and have also 
shown the different varieties to vary widely in the time required for 
their full development, varying, as has been shown, year after year 
fully three mouths as between the earlier and later maturing varieties. 

This fact of the wide variation in the different varieties in their period 
of reaching full maturity, although previously recognized, has not re- 
ceived the consideration which its extreme importance demanded, as is 
evinced by the fact that at present, as for the past thirty years, those 
varieties are largely grown in the Northern States which could only 
reach maturity at rare intervals and in exceptional seasons in these lati- 
tudes. This satisfactorily accounts for the occasional production of 
crystallizable sirups, and the general failure to secure similar results 
continuously. 

3. — When the maximum content of sugar is present in the 

SORGHUM. 

No conclusion established by the work of the Department of Agri- 
culture, practically considered, is of greater importance than the posi- 
tive ascertainment of that period in the development of the several 
varieties of sorghum when their juices contain the maximum of cane- 
sugar. 

4. — Conflicting testimony before this investigation. 

On this point there has existed, during the past twenty years or 
more, the greatest discrepancy in statement, and the general opinion 
prevailing has been very wide of the truth, as established by all these 
experiments. 

As evidence of the great diversity of opinion concerning this impor- 
tant matter which existed previous to the experiments at Washington, 
the following quotations are made from the reports of various experi- 
menters: 

a. In his report on a Early Amber Cane," by Dr. C. A. Goessmann, of 
Amherst, Mass., 1879, he says, p. 9 : 

The safest way to secure the full benefit of the Early Amber Cane crop for sirup 
and sugar manufacture is to begin cutting the canes when the seed is full grown, yet 

■still soft A 

* The only trial on a large scale for extracting sugar from corn-stalks of which we 
have record will be found in the statement of J. B. Thorns, of date April 10, appended 
to this Report (p. 119), and was not a success. It is possible that if the maize had 
been allowed to mature, in place of being cut when the ear was in an immature state 
lit for canning, the result might have been different. 

t Dr. Goessmann's statement requires the modification as explained by him in Com- 
mittee, viz : To secure the crop (some 20 acres of land), it was essential, with the 
limited milling power at his command, to commence milling at the time specified, 
even if some loss of cane-sugar followed this course. 



46 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

b. In the " Sorgo Hand Book," published by the Blyniyer Manufact- 
uring Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1880, it is directed upon page 8 : 

The cane should be cut when the seed is in the dough, and several days before grinding,, 
as it will be more free from impurities if cured for a few days before going to the mill. 

c. In a pamphlet entitled " Sugar-making from Sorghum," published 
by the Clough Eefining Company, p. 5, directions are given to — 

Harvest as soon as the seeds begin to form, and before they get hard. Grind the cane, if 
possible, soon after it is cut. 

d. In a pamphlet entitled "The Sorgo Manufacturers' Manual," by 
Jacobs Brothers, Columbus, Ohio, p. 4, 1866, it is stated that — 

The cane is in the best state for harvesting when part of the seed is beginning to 
turn black, or in other words, when the seed is in a doughy state. The cane should be 
cut and shocked in the field with tops on, and in this condition it may remain several 
months before being worked up, for the cane matures and forms more saccharine 
matter. 

e. In a " Eeport on the Manufacture of Sugar, Sirup, and Glucose 
from Sorghum," by Professors Weber and Scovell, of the Illinois Indus- 
trial University, 1881 , p. 22, they say : 

The proper time to begin cutting the cane for making sugar is when the seed is in the 
hardening dough. The cane should be worked up as soon as possible after cutting. 

/. J. Stanton Gould, in a " Eeport on Sorghum Culture," made to the 
New York State Agricultural Society in 1863, p. 752, says : 

The seed of the cane (sorghum) continues in the dough for about a week. It is the 
general impression the cane should be cut during this period, as it is then supposed to 
have the greatest amount of saccharine matter; at least, this is thought to be true of 
all the varieties except the White Imphee, which is usually cut just as it is going out of 
the milk or just entering the dough. 

g. In conclusion, we quote from Mr. Gould's paper, as illustrating the 
chaotic state in which our knowledge was prior to the work at the 
Department of Agriculture. Upon p. 740 he says : 

These conflicting opinions might easily be reconciled by a few well-directed experi- 
ments. 

Again, he says, same page : 

After the most careful inquiry, orally and by letter, I am unable to find that any 
such experiments have ever been made. 

Again, he says, p. 747 : 

These experiments are not conclusive, and the whole question needs a careful and 
accurate investigation. 

As the result of such an investigation, we call attention to the average 
results of the past years, as shown in the tables accompanying this 
report, from which it will be seen that during each of the past three years 
it has been demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that the value 
of the sorghum for the production of sugar increased, upon an average 
of the 35 or 37 varieties tested, fully 500 per cent., and in many cases 
1,000 per cent., after the period when, according to the authorities cited, 
it was recommended that the crop should be cut up.* 

*May, 1883. — The references in the text to "the tables accompanying this report" 
were made originally upon the expectation that the full text of the documents refer- 
red to the Academy by the Commissioner of Agriculture would be reproduced as a part 
of this Report, as well, also, as the " Graphical Charts," essential to a full understand- 
ing of the results upon which this Report is based. The restrictions imposed by the 
terms of the Senate's resolution of March 3, 1883, seriously impairs the value of this 
Report as a Sorghum Manual, by suppressing the documents in question, with their 
illustrations. Of the Department's Report for 1882, an edition of 300,000 copies ha* 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 47 

It will be observed also how eompletely at variance the above quoted 
authorities are in reference to the subsequent treatment of the crop 
after cutting it up, the one recommending that it be stored, even for 
months ; the other, that it be immediately worked up. The importance 
of this latter course of treatment can hardly be overestimated, as appears 
from data herewith presented. 

5. — The importance of an even crop, with no suckers, in the 

production of sugar. 

The experiments at the Department of Agriculture this past season 
have fully confirmed the practical wisdom of a course which is pursued 
by the sugar planters of Louisiana and Cuba, viz, the exclusion from 
the matured crop of all immature canes, if the production of sugar is 
contemplated. BbTlCE h/BBHOE 

This point, if previously recognized by sorghum growers, has never 
been properly understood and considered as it deserves to be. 

6. — The importance of promptly working the crop after it 

has been cut up. 

To this point also reference has been made already. Its importance 
can hardly be overstated. If departure from this rule is at any time 
admissible, it is at least safe to say that the conditions which would 
warrant such departure are as yet not determined. Prompt working of 
the cane so soon as cut is always safe, and any delay is fraught with 
unavoidable risk of loss. 

This conclusion is established, as well by the work of Dr. Groessmann 
as by that of the Department of Agriculture. 

7. — Sugar has been made from sorghum and cornstalks. 

It will be seen from the reports of the past three years at the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, as well as from a wide range of experience else- 
where, that sugar in large quantities has been shown to be present in 
the juices of sorghum and maize. Also, which is of the first impor- 
tance from the economical side, high-grade marketable sugar in con- 
been printed. Of the earlier reports, containing Dr. Collier's results on sorghum, it 
is understood the editions are exhausted, including Special Report No. 33. — [Com- 
mittee. ] 

The Senate's resolution, above referred to, is as follows : 

In the Senate op the United States, 

March 2, 1883. 

Resolved by the Senate (the Souse of Representatives concurring), That the Report of 
the National Academy of Sciences on the sorghum sugar industry be printed with 
such portions of the appendix and accompanying exhibits as may be selected by the 
Joint Committee on Public Printing, and that there be printed 6,500 additional copies, 
of which 2,000 copies shall be for the use of the Senate, 3,000 copies for the use of the 
House of Representatives, 1,000 copies for the use of the Department of Agriculture, 
and 500 copies for the use of said National Academy of Sciences. 

Attest : 

F. E. Shober, Acting Secretary. 

In the House of Representatives, 

March 3, 1883. 

Resolved, That the House concur in the above resolution of the Senate. 
Attest : 

Ed. McPherson, Cleric. 



48 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

siderable quantity has been successfully made at various places, as 
already cited, from sorghum juice, comparing favorably with the sugar 
from the true sugar-cane or from the sugar-beet. 

The testimony of the sugar boiler at the Department of Agriculture 
who worked up the sorghum in 1881, and who produced a sugar which 
polarized 97.5 per cent., is of especial value. He says in his report that 
u sugar of this character could have been produced day after day from 
sorghum such as produced this"; and also, in reference to this sorghum, 
he testifies u it was only fairly good." — ( Vide report 1881- ? 82, Peter 
Lynch.) 

It will be seen that in successive years there was also obtained from 
the stalks of common maize, after the ripened grain had been plucked, 
at the rate of 900 pounds of sugar to the acre. It also appears from 
the correspondence submitted that many parties have practically se- 
cured results nearly equal to these in their work. 

8. — The hydrometer and ripe seed sufficient to indicate 
the proper time for working up the crop. 

It will be seen by reference to the reports of the work at Washington 
that it is within the means of the common farmer to inform himself ac^ 
curately as to the condition of his crop by simply examining the seed, 
and by the hydrometer learning the specific gravity of the expressed 
juice.* 

By reference to the preceding reports of the Department of Agricult- 
ure it will be seen that for each increase of .001 in specific gravity be- 
tween 1048 and 1086 in the year 1880 there was an average increase 
(glucose excepted) in the several constituents of the juice of the several 
sorghums as follows : 

Per cent. 

Sucrose 251 

Solids 067 

Available sugar - 257 

Glucose minus.. .073 

Number of analyses, 2,186. 

In 1881 the increase for each .001 specific gravity was, in the average 
results, as follows, for specific gravity between 1052 and 1082 : 

Per cent. 

Sucrose 305 

Solids 013 

Available sugar 354 

Glucose minus.. . 062 

Number of analyses, 438. 

The general average for the years 1879, 1880, and 1881, specific grav- 
ity between 1048 and 1080, was as follows for each increase of .001 
specific gravity : 

Per cent. 

Sucrose 238 

Solids 028 

Available sugar 262 

Glucose minus . . . 052 

Number of analyses, 2,960. 

* Tke Committee do not wish to be understood as advising every farmer to be his 
own sugar boiler. While it is probably quite true that with very simple means and 
moderate skill good crystallizable sirup may be made on the farm, it is clear that the 
skill and experience of a professional sugar-master is essential to the successful man- 
agement of the trains and. vacuum-pans of a well-ordered sugar-house, and the nat- 
ural result will be, beyond doubt, that such establishments will be set up at con- 
venient points in each sugar-producing district. The problem, as far as it relates to 
the production of sirups, appears to be already solved by abundant experience. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



49 



For changes in specific gravity in successive stages of development, 
each increase of .001 specific gravity corresponded to the following re- 
sults : 



Specific gravity. 


Sucrose. 


Solids. 


Available 
sugar. 


Glucose. 


Number of 
analyses. 


1018 to 1029 


Per cent. 
.066 
.122 
.290 
.299 
.273 
.317 


Per cent. 
.016 
.025 
.011 
.010 
.023 
.011 


Per cent. 
-.034 
.069 
.062 
.340 
.305 
.371 


Per cent. 

.084 

.028 

.017 

—.051 

-.055 

-.065 


146 


1029 to 1042 


191 


1042 to 1052 


12» 


1052 to 1061 


15& 


1061 to 1071 


137 


1071 to 1082 


23*. 







From these it will appear that the sorghum juices, after they have 
reached a specific gravity of about 1050, iucrease gradually and with 
great regularity in saccharine strength and in available sugar until a 
specific gravity of 1080 to 1082 is attained, and that this increase is- 
fully, upon the average, 0.3 per cent, of the weight of the juice for each 
.001 increase in specific gravity, or an average increase between 1050 
and 1082 of 9.6 per cent, of the weight of the juice in available sugar. 

The practical importance of this fact, which appears to be demon- 
strated by the very numerous analyses made during the past three 
years, can hardly be too strongly emphasized. 

By reference, then, to the table given upon page 79, Special Keport 
33, the farmer may, by simply taking the specific gravity of his sorghum 
juice, readily estimate the approximate value of the crop for the produc- 
tion of sugar or sirup. 

9. — Length of period for working sorghums. 

Eeference has already been made to the very great difference existing 
between the different varieties of sorghum as to the length of time 
needed for them to reach maturity. It is not known that experiments 
have been made to determine this difference accurately, until those 
lately made at the Department of Agriculture. It has also been shown, 
as already remarked, that those varieties requiring long periods for 
their complete maturity have been the varieties largely cultivated in 
the Northern States during the past thirty years. 

The results given in the Special Keport No. 33, page 96, Table 96, 
show not only the number of days from time of planting to complete 
maturity of each variety, but also the number of days during which the 
several varieties were in a condition for working in this latitude. 

By this table the farmer in any section of the country may be able to 
select such varieties as the nature of his climate will give him reason 
to believe may be successfully grown ; or, if his season permits, he may 
select several varieties, which, coming to maturity in succession, will 
enable him to extend his working season, and yet have his cane of each 
sort in the best condition for sugar or sirup production. Planted, as 
these several varieties were, side by side in the same soil and on the 
same day, the comparative results given in the table referred to are 
fully trustworthy, and could have been secured in no other way. 

These results are of direct practical value to the sorghum grower, and 
were confirmed by the experience of the past season. 

S. Mis. 51 4 



50 sorghum sugar industry. 

10. — Effect of rain upon the composition of sorghum juices. 

The investigation of this question and the results secured offer a good 
illustration as to the importance of submitting doubtful questions to the 
test of actual experiment, since it is nearly certain that any one, reason- 
ing from a priori considerations, would have concluded, and indeed 
such conclusion has been accepted as established fact, that the effect of 
rain would be manifest in a diluted juice, and that conversely a pro- 
longed drought would result in a concentration and diminution of the 
juice. The results, however, of very many experiments on every variety 
of sorghum, during the past season, prove the incorrectness of such con- 
clusions. 

11. — The effect of frost upon sorghum. 

The investigations concerning this question practically reconcile the 
discordant reports in regard to this matter. It has been shown that 
when fully matured the sorghum withstands eveu hard frosts without 
detriment, but that if immature the effect is most disastrous. 

It is shown also that this disastrous result is due not directly to the 
effect of the frost, but to the subsequent warm weather, which rapidly 
induces fermentation with inversion of sugar in the frosted and imma- 
ture cane. 

12. — Manufacture of sugar from sorghum. 

From the numerous results given in Dr. Collier's reports, it is obvious 
that the method of manufacture of sirup was such that nearly all of the 
sugar present in the juices of the sorghum or maize could be secured in 
the sirup without inversion. This point is one of especial importance 
practically, and since the results differ so widely from those of other 
experimenters, they are entitled to careful consideration. 

A single experiment of Dr. Groessmann gave from a juice containing 
8.16 per cent, sucrose and 3.61 per cent, glucose a sirup containing 
37.48 per cent, sucrose and 37.87 per cent, glucose, or as follows: 

Juice : Per cent. 

Sucrose 69. 33 

Gl ucose 30. 67 

Sirup : 

Sucrose 47. 94 

Glucose 52.06 

From which it appears that, supposing there was no loss of glucose 
in the Operation of making the sirup, 21.39 per cent, of the sucrose was 
converted into glucose, or, in other words, 30.85 per cent, of the sucrose 
in the juice was inverted. If such a result was to follow invariably, no 
one, we think, would hesitate to accept the following conclusion drawn 
by Dr. Goessmann from the above experiment, viz : 

In sight of these facts it will be quite generally conceded that the sugar production 
from sirup like the above must remain a mere incidental feature in the Amber-Cane 
industry in our section of the country. 

In 1879 the average of 24 experiments with the juices of several varie- 
ties of sorghum and maize, made at the Department of Agriculture 
(see Annual Report 1879, p. 53), showed that the relative loss of sucrose 
in the sirup was only 5.35 per cent, of that present in the juice, instead 
of being, as Dr. Goessmann found, 30.85 per cent. 

But of far greater importance is the fact brought out in an average 
of 40 experiments, including all made, that there was an actual loss of 
only 12.5 per cent, of the cane sugar j i. e., there was secured as sugar in 
the sirup 87.5 per cent, of all the sugar present in the juice ; thus show- 
ing that even the total loss by defecation, by skimming, and by inversion, 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 51 

was no more than that usual with sugar-cane juice, for it is estimated 
that only about 80 per cent, of the cane sugar present in the tropical 
juices is recovered in the sugar and molasses, a little over 20 per cent, 
being lost in the manufacture. 

In Ure's Dictionary, Appleton's edition, 1865, vol. II, p. 758, the 
writer upon sugar says as follows : 

The average quantity of grained sugar obtained from cane juice in our colonial 
plantations* is probably not more than one-third of the quantity of crystalline sugar 
in the juice which they boil. 

13.. — Effect of fertilizers upon the production of sugar in 

SORGHUM. 

Many experiments have been made with a view to the determination 
of this question. A limited number of these being taken, conclusions 
apparently well established would follow from such limited examina- 
tion. The result, however, of all the experiments, including 34 analy- 
ses of the ash of juices from sorghum grown upon plats differently 
fertilized, leaves the matter wholly undecided. 

In the literature of sorghum respecting fertilizers very much may be 
found, as in that upon sugar cane and beets, which appears to be well 
established, at least it is with great confidence asserted ; but it is very 
doubtful whether any conclusion as to the effect of one or another fer- 
tilizer upon a sugar-producing crop rests upon data involving over 34 
analyses of ash, and, as has been said, even this number fails to prove 
anything as to the effect of various fertilizers upon sorghum. 

14. — The so-cadled gum a product of manufacture. 

In the purging of sorghum and corn-stalk sugar, it happens very often 
that this operation is of unusual difficulty, owing to the presence of a 
certain gummy substance, and this practical difficulty has been by 
some so magnified that the economical production of sugar from these 
two plants has been confidently declared impossible. 

In this experience in Washington, as well as that of many other ob- 
servers, this peculiar substance has been found often to be present in 
quantity so small as to offer little, if any, resistance to complete purg- 
ing in the ordinary centrifugal. 

It is a matter of very great practical importance to determine those 
conditions which prevent its being produced in the manufacture of the 
sirup, since in no case has its presence been detected in the freshly 
expressed juices of either sorghum or maize. It appears to be formed by 
transformation of other constituents of the juice in the process of sirup 
production. 

B.— FUTURE INVESTIGATION. 

Although much important work has been already accomplished, and 
results fully repaying the care and expense bestowed have been attained, 
there yet remains a vast amount of work demanding further investiga- 
tion. Eveu granting that the questions already settled may suffice to 
place this new industry upon a safe and profitable footing, it by no means 
follows that it may not be made more profitable. 

Under the careful supervision of science from its earliest infancy, the 
beet-sugar industry has so advanced that to-day 38 per cent, of the 
world's supply of sugar is derived from this source — a plant poorer in 
sugar, more expensive in cultivation, and far more difficult and costly 
in the means required for the extraction of its sugar than sugar cane — 
and yet under this scientific supervision it stands practically the sole 
rival of the cane as a source of supply for sugar. 

* British possessions. 



52 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

Perfected processes and improved appliances have enabled the man- 
ufacturers to obtain practically all of the sugar present in the beet, either 
as sugar or molasses or spirits, while, on the other hand, it is estimated 
that fully one-third of all the sugar in the cane is burned up in the 
begasse upon the sugar plantation. 

The same methods, the same apparatus, the same waste which are in 
use and characterize our production of sugar from cane obtains in its 
production from sorghum. Sixty per cent, of juice from an actual 90 
per cent, is the maximum yield of our cane mills. This, then, remains 
a matter for future experiments and solution. 

The effect of fertilizers upon the growth of the sorghum and of maize 
and upon the composition of their several juices yet remains in a state 
of entire uncertainty.* 

The variety of soil best adapted for the production of sugar in these 
plants is equally a matter of which we are in comparative ignorance. 
We have at present six varieties of sorghum which for centuries have 
been grown in Northern China, and thirteen varieties sent from Natal. 
It is well known that these countries are the sources whence we origi- 
nally obtained our varieties some thirty years ago. It would be a most 
interesting question to determine whether these seeds direct from China 
and South Africa would grow canes as rich in sugar as those already 
examined, or whether in our climate and soil this sugar-producing 
quality has been developed during the past thirty years in which they 
have been grown here. 

Should this latter prove to be the case, it would give us reason to 
hope that improvements equally great might possibly follow ; or that 
by careful crossing or selection a variety could be secured surpassing 
as a sugar-producing plant any of the numerous varieties now known. 

The methods of defecation in the process of manufacture are com- 
pletely unsettled, and the greatest difference of opinion and practice 
prevails among cultivators and manufacturers. 

The use of lime or of some other alkaline agent, the removal of the 
sediment, and the treatment of both the scum and the precipitate de- 
mand further investigation. 

The same is true of the use of sulphurous acid or oxide, in solution or 
in vapor, which is open to many doubts in the minds of sugar-masters — 
doubts which may be empirical, but which careful research alone can 
dispel or confirm. It is worse than idle to dogmatize on matters of this 
description, but dogmas will prevail where sound evidence is wanting. 

There are chemical agents which may be tried in connection with 
sorghum sugar production of which as yet we have no recorded experi- 
ence and no laboratory guidance ; for example, the action of sulphites 
and hyposulphites of the alkalies and of alkaline earths in place of sul- 
phur fumes or sulphurous acid. 

There is a wide range of experiment possible in the methods of clari- 
fication by other agents than those familiar at present. 

We are ignorant of the possibilities which may attend the attempt to 
reduce the sucrose to an insoluble lime salt which can be kept indefi- 
nitely and transported as flour. 

The extensive literature of the sugar industry, enriched during the 

*The results of Prof. Magnus Swenson, of Wisconsin, (Appendix, p. 146,) are the 
latest which have been communicated to this Committee (November, 1882) on the use 
of fertilizers, and these appear to show the inefficiency of nitrogenous manures on the 
sugar production of sorghum. This is also the conclusion from the use of guano at 
the Rio Grande plantation, where it had a fair trial in 1882. The whole subject of 
fertilizers require more extended research on a systematic plan, with varied soils. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. r>3 

half century or more since the days of Napoleon I by the labors of the 
best technical chemists of Europe, is far from being exhausted in the 
search for data long slumbering in almost forgotten pages from which 
important suggestions may arise in aid of the sorghum industry. 

We must not rest until an economical and rapid method is discovered 
to save the loss of about 40 per cent, of the juice which is now wasted in 
the begasse. Such an invention would enrich the world equally in the 
tropics and all cane-growing countries as in the fields of sorghum. But 
such methods are perfected, only as the fruit of research, and this must 
not be relaxed when we are possibly on the verge of success. 

The Committee have not taken up the fodder question in connection 
with this general discussion. It did not properly fall within the range 
of inquiry assigned to them by the Academy. But it is conspicuous that 
it is a subject of great moment germane to this investigation, inasmuch 
as it is closely related to the best use of " waste material," and yet more 
so if we consider the surprising fecundity of the sorghum stubbles, 
whether it is grown for green fodder or for soiling. It will be found 
on consulting the records of the Department of Agriculture* that a 
notable amount of good work has been done in this direction by the 
Chemical Division, and it is clearly desirable that it be made a subject 
of further inquiry. 

The spirit of scientific investigation which has led the Department of 
Agriculture through its chemical and agronomic researches to results of 
such importance towards developing a new industry of national value 
has been liberally fostered by the General Government, and to some ex- 
tent also by certain of the States. The fruits of this policy are already 
beginning to show themselves in the decided success which has attend- 
ed the production of sugar from sorghum on a commercial scale in the 
few cases in which the rules of good practice, evolved especially by the 
researches made at the laboratory of the Department of Agriculture, 
have been intelligently followed. Sufficiently full returns from the crop 
of 1S82 have already come to hand to convince us that the Industry is 
probably destined to be a commercial success. 

The practicability of separating sugar from sorghum has been abun- 
dantly shown in a multitude of examples. But the Committee are of 
opinion that many important practical questions, yet unsettled — some 
of which have been indicated in this report — can be better solved by 
the means of research now to be found in public institutions, and more 
especially in the laboratories and experimental works of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture than elsewhere ; and that the sugar-producing in- 
dustry of the whole country, both that of the tropical cane in the South 
and the sorghum over a far wider area, will derive yet greater benefits 
from the continued investigations of the chemist of this Department, to 
whose former work we are already so much indebted. 

B. SILLIMAN, M. D., &c, 
Professor of Chemistry, Yale College, Chairman. 

WM. H. BREAVER, Ph. D., 
Norton Professor of Agriculture in Yale College. 

C. F. CHANDLER, Ph. D., 
Professor of Chemistry, Columbia Colleqe, New York. 

S.W.JOHNSON, 
Professor of Agricultural Chemistry, Yale College, 
Director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. 

GIDEON E. MOORE, Ph. D., 

New York. 
J. LAWRENCE SMITH, M. D., 

Louisville, Ky. 



/ 



PAET III. 



APPENDED PAPERS. 



55 



APPENDED PAPERS 



l.— OF THE SO-CALLED " CRLNESE SUGAE-CAXE." 

Dr. S. Wells Williams, the learned Sinologue, whose remarkable 
familiarity with Chinese literature and natural history entitles his state- 
ments regarding that country to the greatest respect, has kindly supplied 
the Committee (October, 1882) with notes in reply to inquiries addressed 
to him for information, which we have condensed, thus : 

ON THE SORGHUM (KOW-LIANG) OF CHINA. 

1. About the year 1857 the French consul at Shanghai, M. de Montigney. intro- 
duced theBarbadoes millet (Koidiang of tbe Chinese) into France. He obtained the 
seed from the island of Tsung-ming, which lies in the mouth of the Yangtsz' Kiang, 
formed from deposits of detritus. This plant was exceedingly rich in juices, and 
when subjected in France to processes of manufacture produced a great quantity of 
saccharine matter. The plant attracted the attention of agriculturists in America, 
and they obtained small supplies of its seed from France, about the years 1855-'57, 
for purposes of making sugar. No seed was ever, to my knowledge, brought directly 
from China to this country. 

2. The extraordinary richness of this plant grown on the island of Tsung-ming — 
resulting doubtless from the peculiarly fertile soil of this spot — is by no means 
equaled in other parts of China. All Chinese sugar is made from the sugar-cane 
(SacGharum officinarum) grown in the southern provinces, where sorghum is not found. 
From the latter the Chinese have never extracted sugar. In 1865 the United States 
Government sent an agent, Varnum D. Collins, to ascertain the methods employed 
among the Chinese in extracting and granulating sugar. This gentleman experi- 
mented upon the Tsung-ming sorghum seed, aud obtained therefrom a sugar juice 
which considerably surprised the natives, who Avere wholly unacquainted with its 
saccharine properties. —. ...-^ 

The Chinese are abundantly supplied with good and cheap sugar in all portions of 
their empire, coming from the sugar-canes of the south ; they have, consequently, no 
need of other sources than this plant. Their uses for sorghum are various : fodder for 
cattle, from its leaves; fuel, wattles for fences, &c, from the stalks. In binding 
several of these together and cementing with clay, they get a cheap substitute for 
posts, while the stalk's in many ways take the place of timber. 

Many varieties of the grain, black, red, and white, are known to the farmer. Its 
seeds, which are abundant, are used for making a 3ort of spirits, also occasionally for 
feeding to horses, mules, and camels. 

The plant is almost wholly confined in its cultivation to the provinces north of the 
Yangtsz' River, and forms in this region one of the principal crops. It is not em- 
ployed as food for man, save in times of famine aud great stress. When ripe, the 
grain is about the size of duck-shot. 

Question. Is it known how long sorghum has been cultivated in China 
as food, or for making spirits'? 

3. To i his question it is hard to make any satisfactory reply, inasmuch as no Chi- 
nese beaks contain illustrations of graius or plauts used in ancient times, nor are 
there found among their monuments pictures of these similar to representations of 
ancient Egypt, Assyria, Greece, &c. 

As to the history of this grain in China, Dr. Brotschnoirler, of the Russian legation 
at Peking, and foremost among the authorities upon Chinese botany, says (concerning 
the plant called Shu): "This cereal is separately described in the Pun Taao (Chinese 
Herbal), published A. D. 1570. The grain is called Hwang-mi, and is said to possess 
much glutinous matter. It is used for manufacturing alcoholic drinks. This corn 
was known to the Chinese in the most ancient times. It seems to me that the meao- 

57 



58 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

ing of the character Shu in ancient days was not glutinous millet (as Dr. Legge states 
in the Shu King), but rather sorghum, as Dr. Williams translates."* If this deduction 
is true, the cultivation of this plant dates from about 2000 B. C. The precise uses of 
this grain in ancient times can only be inferred. fl/lilJIJHb 

If the identity of the Shu (mentioned in the classics) with sorghum conld be proved 
beyond question, this grain would rank in age as grown in China with any in the 
world. 

4. Sorghum is seldom used in China now as food for man ; the great food staples of 
Northern China are wheat, pulse, maize, and Italian millet (Setaria). Buckwheat, 
panicled millet, and the sweet potato may be included as secondary staples. Rice is 
imported to the north from the southern provinces. 

5. I have never seen the broom corn grown in Cbina. 

6. The twenty or more varieties which President Angell brought from China could, 
probably, be increased in number if the collection were made from a more extended 
area. 

The uses of this plant for fuel tend to increase attention to the development of its 
/ stalk rather than the grain. 

The plant often attains a height of 15 or 16 feet. The common practice of stripping 
off all the leaves within reach upon the growing stalk, for feeding cattle, increases 
very materially its woody fiber. Cutting the stems while in their prime of growth, 
and chewing them green, as Southerners do the sugar-cane, is not unusual in the 
north. 

The Chinese do not possess the art of refining sugar or making sirup to perfection. 
Even in cane-growing districts their employment of molasses is small; none of this 
is ever made from sorghum, to my knowledge. 

Dr. E. Bretschneider, physician to the Eussian legation at Peking, 
who is quoted in the foregoing notes from Dr. Williams, says in his 
essay, or memoir, on the study and value of Chinese botany, f page 46 : 

The true sugar-cane (Saccharumofficinarum) growing in China must not be confounded 
with what is called Northern China Sugar- cane. This is Sorghum saccharatum, a plant 
now a days largely cultivated in Europe and America for the purpose of manufactur- 
ing sugar from it. This plant was first introduced from Shanghai into France by the 
French consul, M. Montigney, in the year 1851, whence it spread over Europe and 
America, after it was proved that it is very rich in sugar. 

Dr. Bretschneider then relates substantially the same statements, 
respecting Mr. Collius astonishing the natives by making sugar from 
sorghum, which Dr. Williams has already given. 

On page 45, after discussing the meaning of the Chinese terms ap- 
plied to these plants, he adds, in conclusion : 

It seems to me that the meaning of the character translated Shu in ancient times 
iras not glutinous millet (as Dr. Legge states in his translation of the Shu King), but 
rather sorgho, as Dr. Williams translates. 

It seems, then, that the term Chinese sugar-cane is a misnomer only so 
far as the plant was not recognized as a sugar- producing plant by the 
Chinese, while the original seed of the Sorghum saccharatum, according 
to these authorities, was undoubtedly imported into France from China. 

*As to the sugar-cane, the same writer adds: "I have not been able to find any al- 
lusion to it in the most ancient of Chinese works (the five classics); it is first men- 
tioned by writers of the second century B. C. * * * One says, 'it grows in Cochin 
China; it is several inches in circumference, several chang (10 feet) high, and resem- 
bles the bamboo. The juice expressed is very sweet, and, dried in the sun, changes 
into sugar.'" 

Sugar-can* is not mentioned as indigenous to China. The Pun Tsao (xxxiii, 13) 
gives a good description of the sugar-cane and its varieties, of the manufacture of 
sugar, &c, and quotes several authors of the Liang, Tang, and Sung dynasties, who 
describe the plant. In another book we learn that the Emperor, in A. D. 640, sent a 
man to India to learn there the method of manufacturing sugar. 

tOn the study and value of Chinese botanical works, with notes on the history of 
plants and geographical botany, from Chinese sources, illustrated with eight Chinese 
wood-cuts, dated Peking, December 17, 1870. 8vo. pp.51. Printed by Rozario, Mar- 
•al & Co., Foochow. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. ' 59 

2.— M.LOUIS VILMORIN ON SORGHUM. 

M. Louis Vilmorin, of Paris, the well-known seedsman, in 1854, 
published in the Bon Jardinier Almanac for 1855, pages 41-53, an article 
on Sorgho sucre of much interest, from which it appears that sorghum 
was grown as a sugar plant at Florence, in 1766, by Pietro Arduino, and 
also that M. d'Abadie sent to the Museum in Paris from Abyssinia a 
collection of seeds containing thirty varieties of sorghum, some plants 
of which attracted attention from the sugary flavor of their stems. 
M. Yilmorin calls attention especially to the fact that while the seeds 
of sorgho from the new importation of Montigney from China in 1854 
(see Dr. Williams's notes on the Chinese sorghum, above) were black and 
apparently identical with those of the old collections, the seeds of the 
Florentine plants were described as of a clear-brown color, correspond- 
ing to well-recognized differences in the sugar sorghum. 

M. Vilmorin's article contains so much of interest as bearing upon the 
early history of sorghum, as well as results of well-conducted experi- 
ments by him to determine its industrial value for various purposes, 
that we add a translation of the paper to this Appendix. It is interest- 
ing to see how closely most of M. Vilmorin's results compare with those 
of Dr. Collier. 

[Referred to in the report, p. 59. Translated from "Le Bon Jardinier" Almanac, Paris, 

for 185C, pp. 41-52.] 

Sorgho snore, Holcus saccharatus, Hort.; Andropogon saccharatus f Kuntb. 

This graminaceous plant, which seems destined to take an important place in the 
list of our industrial plants, was, like the " Igname of China," imported by M. de 
Montigny among other articles addressed in one sending to the Geographical So- 
ciety.* We still hesitate about the botanical name by which this plant should be 
designated. The name of " Holcus saccharatus^ is evidently erroneous, for, although 
the plaut is very probably the same which was formerly so denominated, that di- 
vision 'of this genus, which is characterized by the presence of a small pedunculate 
male awn by the side of each fertile awn, has been thrown out of the " Holcus" 
group into the genus "Andropogon" or "Sorghum." In all likelihood the species 
u Sorghum vulgare" (Andropogan sorghum) will include among its varieties the plant 
which is now engaging our attention, as well as the "A. cafer bicolor," &c, of Kuntb. 
A recent work, yet unedited, which Mr. Wray, the author, has been kind enough 
to show to me, points out some fifteen varieties of this plant growing on the south- 
east coast of Caffraria, and in a collection of seeds from Abyssinia sent to the Museum, 
in the year 1840, by M. d'Abadie, and containing about thirty different kinds of 
sorgho, we had ourselves noticed some plants particularly remarkable on account 
of the sugary taste of their stalks. It is evident from all this that the occasions 
for confusion, which furnish at the same time a subject for critical examination, are 
not at all wanting. My colleague, Mr. Greenland, has, at my request, set about 
making a special study of the subject, and I hope that his researches, aided by the 
comparative cultivation of the several known varieties, will enable us to bring these 
different varieties back to the botanical types from which they were derived. Mean- 
while we may just as well adopt the name " Holcus saccharatus," which, although 
doubtless inexact in regard to the generic characters, has the advantage of being 
known and of never having been applied to other plants. 

The plant which was submitted to the experiments made at Florence for the pur- 
pose of making sugar in the year 1766, by Pietro Arduino, belonged, very likely, to the 
same species, but it must have been of another variety, for he describes its seeds as 
light brown in color, whereas the seeds of the newly imported plant are black, and 
in all appearance identical with the "black sorgho " {"sorgho noir") of the old col- 
lections. 

The "sorgho sucre'" is a slender, tall plant, rising ordinarily to a height of 2 to 3 
meters, and more on rich soils; its stalks are straight and glossy, the leaves tlexuous 
and curved downward, and its general appearance is similar to that of maize, but 



*See the Revue Horticole, February, 1854, "Holcus saccharatus;" July, 1854, "Igname 
de Chine;" "Bulletin du cornice agricole de Toulon," 1853; list of the Montigny send- 
ings. 



60 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY 

more graceful. As a rule, the sorgho forms a tuft of 8 to 10 stems, terminating in a 
conic panicle, thickly studded with flowers, green at first, and then changing through 
different shades of violet to a deep purple hue when they mature. 

The plant is probably annual,* and its culture and time of growth agree with those 
of maize. In the climate of Paris it requires to be sown as soon as the soil is warm, 
viz, at the same time with the first seed-beds of kidney-beans. The maturity of the 
seeds is better assured when the plant has been grown in a sheltered nursery, or, still 
better, on a deep hot-bed ; but, for the extraction of sugar, cultivation in the open field 
is sufficient, provided the soil be light and somewhat warm. 

The product of the u sorgho sucre" consists of the juice, which is abundantly con- 
tained in the pith of the stalks, and which can furnish three important products, viz, 
sugar, alcohol, and a fermented beverage similar to cider.t In fact, this juice, if ob- 
tained with care, on a small scale, and stripping the cane of its green bark, is nearly 
colorless, aud contains nothing, so to speak, but water and sugar. Its density varies 
from 1.050 to 1.075, and the proportion of sugar from 10 to 16 per cent. I mean here 
the total amount of crystallizable and uncrystallizable sugars, the latter amounting, 
sometimes, to one-third. 

* * # * n * * 

Considered from the standpoint of the sugar manufacture, the sorgho has, as it seems 
to me, little chance of success in those regions, viz, the northern and central of France, 
where the success of the beet culture is already assured. The large proportion of 
uncrystallizable sugar which is contained in sorgho is not only lost for this industry, but 
it also creates a difficulty in regard to the extraction of the crystallizable sugar. What 
we mean is not, however, that the products of sorghum are poor, or difficult to be 
obtained, but simply that their nature renders them, all circumstances being equal, 
more important for alcohol than for sugar. If the distillation of beet, which does 
not yield, even by the most perfect processes, an amount of alcohol proportional to 
the quantity of sugar that can be extracted, gives, in the present condition of the 
market, a good profit, the sorgho juice, yielding much more in alcohol than in sugar, 
will, a fortiori, prove also profitable. 

The result would, of course, be different for sorgho cultivated in warmer regions, 
and where beets cannot grow by its side. Some experiments made on some sorgho 
stalks cultivated in Algiers, and which had been sent to me by M. Peschard d'Ambly, 
the mayor of Philippeville, gave me a product in sugar considerably superior to that 
obtained from my own plants, grown near Paris. Owing to the length of time re- 
quired for the parcel to reach me, an alteration had set in, which rendered it impos- 
sible for me to determine with certainty the ratio of the two kinds of sugar in the 
sorgho from Algiers. But the nature of the juice, and the' observations communi- 
cated to me by Mr. Wray, an old colonist of Natal (Caffreria), lead me to think that 
the proportion of crystallizable sugar becomes much greater whenever the climate 
allows the sorgho to reach complete maturity. This plant, then, might fill, in regard 
to the production of sugar, the gap intervening between the tropical regions — the 
only ones adapted to the culture of cane — and the forty-fourth parallel, which seems 
to be the southern boundary of the belt where beet culture is profitable. The beet 
will, very likely, maintain itself in the field of sugar production beyond this limit, 
whereas the sorgho will surely prevail, chiefly in the western and southwestern prov- 
inces of France, as an alcohol-producing plant. 

As a sugar-producing plant sorgo would have in its favor the facility of cultivation 
and of the treatment of its juices. Its gross product will probably surpass that of 
the sugar-cane in those countries where, as in Louisiana, e. g., the latter becomes an 
annual plant. Its tops and leaves would also furnish abundance of excellent green 
forage. Finally, its molasses, wholly similar to that of cane, could be used for the pro- 
duction of rum, and its juice for that of a liquor very much like tafia. The main 
difficulty would probably be to preserve the stalks long enough to allow time for 
manufacturing. But, without saying that the climate within the above-mentioned 
geographical limits would permit of successive crops in the same season, I learn from 
Mr. Wray, whom I have already cited, that in the vicinity of Natal the Zulu CaffreteJ 

* I say probably, because when I saw, last autumn, the vigor and size of the stubbles 
I thought that they might be put in under shelter to furnish plants for the following 
spring. 

tSee the " Moniteur universel" of November 13, 1854; also the "Revue horticole" of 
November 18. 

JTbe Znlu Caffres cultivate a great number of varieties of the sugar sorghum^ 
(cal ed by them "iniphee"), not for the 'purpose of making sugar from them, but of 
sucking their stalks. M. Boussignault has told me of late that in New Grenada 
pieces of sugar-cane and f maize stalks are sold in the market-places for the same 
use. There is in this a suggestion quite interesting in regard to the " su gar-maize ques- 
tion," which is now engaging me (see the "Revue horticole," November 10, 1854, p. 
42G), and about which I propose soon to speak. 



SORGHUM SUGAE INDUSTRY. 61 

preserve the sorghum stalks for a very long time by burying them in the earth, 
which in that climate is very warm and damp. 

We have just seen that sorgho has for the production of alcohol the advantage of 
tnrniug to account its uncrystallizable sugar, which is lost when sorghum is exclusively 
used for the manufacture of sugar. Another advantage consists in the pureness of its 
juice, owing to which the alcohols, and even the crude brandies, obtained from it are 
pure enough to permit immediate delivery to consumers. 

The alcohol, imperfectly rectified through one distillation only, and which I obtained 
with a laboratory apparatus altogether incomplete, had no foreign taste whatever; 
and even my products of from 40 to 50 per cent, had a rather agreeable taste, somewhat 
like that of u eau At noyau," and I have no doubt they could be used to mix with the 
analogous products of beet. When they are genuine their flavor is by far less strong 
and less peculiar than tLat of rum, and I am convinced that if permitted to age they 
would be excellent. 

I have said above that the sorgho juice could furnish, besides alcohol and sugar, a 
beverage similar to cider. In a note in the Moniteur of November 13, 1854, as also in 
the Bevue horticole of the 16th same month, I endeavored to call attention to the 
advantage there might be found in trying to make such fermented beverages. This 
question is yet entirely new ; therefore no one can foresee whither it may carry us ; but 
from the results which I obtained, under circumstances entirely unfavorable, I cannot 
help thinking it has some prospects. 

The culture of sorghum is not likely to meet with difficulties; it will be conducted 
pretty much in the same way as that of maize and millets, and it, moreover, already 
exists in some of our provinces. The question of the place to be assigned to the sor- 
ghum, in the laying out of fields into plots for rotation, is probably the only one which 
is likely to give occasion to difficulties. In this respect I believe that there is more to 
lose than to gain by the introduction of the new crop, while beets have, on the whole, 
constantly improved the production of the regions where they have been cultivated. 
Sorghum is, as well as maize, considered as an exhausting plant. My experiments in 
this direction have, so far, been not numerous enough to enable me to form a correct 
opinion on this point on the basis of direct observation, but I have very good reason 
to believe that sorghum is really an exhausting plant ; at any rate, the family to which 
it belongs makes it little probable that it should rank with beets in regard to rota- 
tion. v 

The estimate of the products that can be expected from sorghum is difficult enough 
in the present state of the question ; my experiments so far have been on a very small 
scale. The following are the data gathered from them, and the conjectures that can 
be formed : 

The small crop of sorghum which I had cultivated in an open field at Verrieres, on 
a sandy soil of middling quality, was harvested on October 30. The cultivation had 
been proportioned to the wants of the different experiments in the laboratory ; more- 
over, one portion of the crop was much impoverished by the vicinity of a large tree, 
and another was preserved for a comparative experiment on lopped, plants mingled 
with others having their panicles on. The surface cut over on October 30 measured 
58.40 meters. The produce was (weight taken on the day after the cutting) — 

Kilo grama. 

Stalks and leaves 285. 400 

Stalks stripped of leaves and tops 179. 250 

The plot on which the crop had been raised was so irregular and uneven that I 
determined on taking a counter-proof. In that portion which lay at the greatest dis- 
tance from the trees I traced a square wherein the plants Avere, if not fully developed 
at least all even, and the ground equally filled throughout. 

The surface was 5 m .32, and its produce, weighed the day subsequent to the cutting, 
was as follows : 

Kilograms. 

Stalks and leaves 41. 110 

Stalks stripped of leaves and tops 26. 230 

In my judgment, this portion of the crop could well be taken as representing a 
good average harvest, such as would be 45,000 kilograms of beets per hectare. It 
is on these figures that I am about to make my comparisons. 

In the same portion of the field the plants had been forwarded on a hot-bed and 
transplanted in rows at the beginning of May. 

In another part, where the ground, had been sowed on May 18, only a few plants 
appeared. The crop had not been weeded when young, audits growth was, therefore, 
much retarded. Its average gross produce was 38,000 kilograms to the hectare. 

A third crop, started on a hot-bed and transplanted in a garden, was not weighed; 
we took now and then from it what we wanted for our own experiments, directed to 
the determination of the period when sugar is developed. Yet I do not think I am 



62 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

mistaken in estimating this produce, from the appearance of the plants, as surpass- 
ing by a half the yield of the plot of 5 m .32 given above. 

The proportion of the juice obtained from stalks stripped of leaves was from 55 
to 60 per cent. It is plain that by working canes which have been carefully selected' 
or severely topped, the yield must needs be considerably increased. With a good mill 
it should easily reach 70 per cent. The juice gathered from the treatment (carried on 
in the cider-press of the village on October 29) of 215 kilograms of large and small 
stalks, from which the ears and the last joint had been cut off, was 106 liters, the densi- 
meter marking 1.052. I estimate the loss incurred in wetting up the extended sur- 
faces of the trough and the press at 5 liters. 

I have not extracted any sugar from sorghum ; I have only made some determina- 
tions by means of the saccharometer, and verified them generally by means of evapor- 
ation and a treatment with alcohol. 

The following are the results presenting the proportion of sugar existing in the juice 
from plants gathered at Verrieres : 

Per centum. 

October 13, 1853 - . 10. 04 

November 28, 1853 13. 08 

November 28, 1853, second experiment 14. 06 

October 13, 1854 (without inversion) 10. 14 

November 15, 1854, crystallizable sugar, llf per cent. ; uncrystallizable sugar, 

4i per cent 16. 00 

The amount of alcohol produced by the juice was ascertained by the direct method 
of fermentation. The following are the figures in the order in which they were de- 
termined (these figures represent the cubic centimeters of absolute alcohol per liter): * 

Sorgho from Verrieres : Cubic centimeters. 

September 28, 1854 41. 00 

October 4, 1854 54. 00 

Sorgho from Algiers : 

First fermentation, October 17, 1854 (with the Salle ron apparatus) 70. 00 

First fermentation, second trial (with the Salleron apparatus) 74. 00 

First fermentation, second trial (by distillation of 1.20 liters) 70. 72 

Second fermentation, October 18, 1854 79. 52 

Sorgho from Verrieres : 

October 20, 1854 (by distillation of one liter) 72. 51 

November 16, 1854 (panicles cut) 63. 26 

November 17, 1854 (panicles preserved) 60. 67 

If we suppress the figures belonging to September 28, which refer to plants evidently 
too young, as also the four figures representing the sorgho from Algiers, we find that 
6.3 per cent, in volume, or 63 cubic centimeters of alcohol per liter of juice, is, in our 
climate, the average figure, which plainly seems quite encouraging, especially con- 
sidering the excellent quality of the product. 

Our calculations, on the basis given above, would show that the returns of one 
hectare of sorghum would be as follows : 

Stalks and leaves kilograms. . 77, 270 

Net stalks do. ... 49, 300 

Juice, at 55 per cent, to the weight of stalks (271 hectoliters) liters. . 27, 115 

Sugar, at 8 per cent, to the juice kilograms. . 2, 169 

Absolute alcohol, at 63 per cent, to the juice ..liters.. 1,708 

The analogous returns from beets would be as follows : 

Roots, weight to the hectare kilograms. . 45, 000 

Juice, at 80 per cent, to the weight of roots do 36, 000 

Sugar, at 6 per cent, to the j uice do 2, 160 

Absolute alcohol, at 3 per cent, to the beets liters. . 1, 350 

The 8 per cent, sugar on which I have calculated the yield of sorgho will perhaps be 
considered as too low, but it should not be forgotten that it refers to the crystallizable 
sugar that can actually be extracted, and I do not, therefore, believe my estimate 
too low. If I were to make a comparison between the " sorgho" and the " sugar- 
cane" in a more southerly climate, I have no doubt that the figure representing the 
product in sugar would rise to a far higher value; but I lack the data required for 
such a comparison, as well as for a comparison between the same plant and the vine, 
or the Jerusalem artichoke ("topinanibour"), or the grains, or even the daffodil 
("asphodele"), in respect to the production of alcohol. 

After examining the chances of the industrial culture of sorgho, and the considera- 
tions that may lead to the adoption of this plant, I have only to furnish some data 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 63 

obtained from our first experiments, which may afford some indications for further 
study, or some guide for the first attempts in manufacture. 

One of the points which I have endeavored to establish, without, however, obtain- 
ing complete success, was this, viz : What is the time, during the period of vegetation, 
when the stalks begin to contain sugar, and, consequently, what is the moment when 
the manufacture may commence? It appeared to me that this time coincided with 
that of the appearance of the ears; but the proportion of sugar existing in the cane 
keeps on increasing up to the time when the seeds pass into the milky stage. I have 
noticed that the richness in sugar in a plant while blooming diminished gradually 
from the lower to the upper part of the stalk in the spaces between the joints, and 
also that the lower portion of each one of these interspaces is younger and less rich 
in sugar than the upper one. Such being the case, the middle of the stalk is the 
richest portion, for the lower joints are hard and small. I have not been able to 
ascertain it with exactness, but I suppose that at a later period thf. spaces between 
the joints in the lower part of the stalk become impoverished, or, if the juice does 
not grow poorer, it at least diminishes in quantity. 

The ripeness of seeds does not seem to reduce to any considerable degree the pro- 
duction of sugar, at least in our climate; but as maturity is reached at the end of the 
season, and our plants, consequently, continue to advance in richness with the devel- 
opment of vegetation, the effect of maturity on these phenomena can hardly be deter- 
mined. This question can be solved only in those countries where the seeds of the 
plant mature before the warm season is over. According to M. de Beauregard's report, 
addressed to the "Cornice de Toulon," maturity would seem to have had no injurious 
influence within the limits of his experience; and he considers seed and sugar as two 
products which can be obtained jointly. On the other hand the Zulu Caffres are 
accustomed to snatch, by an abrupt pull, the panicles away from their plants as soon 
as they show themselves, in order to increase the sugary quality of the stalks. But 
this question has, after all, no importance in respect to France, since here ripeness 
will never take place too soon to prove detrimental. 



3.— LETTER FROM MB. LEONARD WRAY. i 

Mr. Leonard Wray is the veteran pioneer of sorghum culture in the \ 
United States and in France, whose contributions have already been 
referred to in the body of this report. His early communication in the 
agricultural section of the Patent Office Eeport, Part III, 1854, \). 219, 
will be read with much interest in this connection. His observations 
are there reported by D. Jay Browne. He now writes as follows: 

Perak, via Penang, September 7, 1882. 
To the Commissioner of Agriculture, Washington, U. S. : 

Dear Sir: I am pleased beyond measure to find that the United States Govern- 
ment has at last awakened to the great ^ alue of the "imphee varieties," which I 
introduced into your country, and has taken the most certain course to verify by 
scientific tests the truth of my printed statements respecting them, published in Eng- 
lish, and also in French, in 1854, copies of which I gave to Mr. D. J. Browne, of the 
Patent Office, in Washington. 

You will find the contents of this, my pamphlet, in a little book by H. S. Olcott, 
published by Moore, of Fulton street, New York, in 1857 ; and if you do me the honor 
to read that, you will, I am sure, fairly acknowledge that every statement I therein 
made is strictly proven by the valuable results of the able men whom you selected to 
conduct your experiments. I must, however, mention that the last chapter of my 
pamphlet, viz, that on the manufacture of the imphee juice into sugar, is omitted in 
Olcott's little book. 

It is most gratifying to see the u thorough" manner in which your Department has 
gone into and decided these important questions. 

I first became acquainted with these plants in March, 1851 (thirty and one-half 
years ago), just after my arrival in Natal, South Africa ; and in 1854 I grew them in 
.several parts of France, in England, Spain, Italy, and in various otber places, so that 
I may claim to know their merits, and I now say that all I said and wrote about them 
at that time I am fully prepared to stand by and substantiate the truth of. 

In fact, your admirable Department has, in its recent scientific demonstrations, 
abundantly and authoritatively confirmed my facts, and thereby rendered an inesti- 
mable service to your country, and to other countries also. I hope and trust you will 
continue it. 



64 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

Looking at the beautiful plates in your reports, I cannot but express my admiration, 
and at the same time my astonishment, at the very remarkable constancy of the 
11 types" maintained by the different sorts of iinphee shown. For instance, I may 
mention Plate I, facing page 8, in S. Report 33. This is there called " Imphee Liberian" 
and " Sumac"; but I distinctly recognize it as my " Kooni-ba-na," one of the very 
sweetest and best I had. (I inclose you some very old seed.) 

Plates 2, 3, and 4 are my Neeazana and its sports. 

Plate 5 is my En-ya-ma, which I see figures as " W. Mammoth." I inclose some of 
my old seeds of it. 

Plate? is my Oom-see-a-na. 

Plate 8 seems to me to be the "Chinese sorgho." 

Plate 9 is an Oom-see-a-na kind (no doubt a " sport"). 

Plate 10 is undoubtedly my " Vim-bis-chu-a-pa," which, to please General Hammond, 
I nicknamed Sorgho Ka-bai (or Sorgho Brother). Some grew to 6 pounds weight 
when "topped," and I had the head of one such until about nine months ago, when I 
unluckily threw it away (it was 20 inches long). I see you call it by the names of 
Honduras, Honey, Mastodon, &c. 

Plate 11 seems to me to be no other than my Boom-vira-na, one of my special favorites. 
Please see the description in my little pamphlet (in Olcott's book, 1857), and I think 
you will not long be in any doubt about its origin, bogus stories notwithstanding. 

Plates 12 and 13 are both my imphees, and I had some growing here twelve months- 
ago, but the seed unfortunately got spoiled. 

The seed you were kind enough to favor me with I have sown and had sown by my 
friends here; and mine are now 8 inches high, being only sixteen days' growth. I 
may mention that I soaked my seed in a strong solution of sugar with a little salt r 
camphor, and soap-suds for twenty hours, and I think they are growing much more vig- 
orously than those not so treated. I shall continue to watch them. 

Pray do not think me ungrateful when I say that I felt disappointed in not finding 
any "Minnesota E. Amber," nor any " Oomseeana " amongst the seed you sent me, and 
I trust you will forgive me if I trespass so far on your kindness as to beg that you 
will be so good as to send me some of those two kinds, also "White Mammoth" and 
"Sumac," all of which I particularly wish to have. Even 100 or 200 seeds of each of 
these four sorts will be ample for me to propagate from, and these might come in a let- 
ter direct to me here (and not by Singapore). In such case the correct address is: 
"Perak, viaPinang, straits of Malacca," nothing more. 

I need not say, also, how thankful I shall feel for any of your instructive reports or 
other information you maybe kind enough to bestow upon me. 

I will by no means neglect to send you a goodly assortment of such seeds as I think 
you will be glad to have, as soou as they are ready. With many excuses for so troub- 
ling you, I beg to subscribe myself, dear sir, 
Yours, very faithfullv, 

LEONARD WRAY. 



4.— FACTS REGARDING SORGHUM, AND SOME CONCLUSIONS AS TO ITS 

VALUE AS A SOURCE OF SUGAR. 

By Peter Collier, Ph. D., Chemist: United States Department of Agriculture.* 

Having given considerable study during the past four years to the sorghum plant, 
I take this occasion to present to the scientific public a brief and necessarily some- 
what incomplete resume of work accomplished, together with such conclusions as 
seem warranted by the facts. 

Botanical definition. — The genus Sorghum (of which Sorghum vulgare is the accepted 
type) is included in the natural order Graminacece, to which natural order belongs 
also the tropical sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum) ; but it should be remarked that 
between the genus Sorghum and the genus Saccharum there are classed by botanists 
the three gentra, Erianthus, Eriochrysis, and Ischwmopogon. Vid. Grisebach's " Flora 
of the West India Islands," pp. 560, 561. 

While, therefore, the two plants are somewhat closely related, this relationship 
does not warrant the assertion made by a recent writer upon this subject, "that the 
name sorghum is a mere disguise, for the reason that it is nothing more nor less than 

* This paper was transmitted to the Sorghum Sugar Committee March 26, 1882, by 
President Rogers, agreeably to a request from the Hon. Commissioner of Agriculture, 
of date March 24. It is the communication submitted by Dr. Collier to the Academy, 
on invitation, at the session held in Philadelphia November, 1882. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 65 

a subvariety of sugar-cane, which may explain why it is that the reader and the in- 
vestigator have so frequently been misled." 

To the unscientific observer a growing sorghum plant would seem to combine many 
of the exterior characteristics of sugar-cane. 

Subvarieties. — There seem to have been originally introduced into this country two 
principal types, or subvarieties of sorghum, viz, the African and the Chinese. At 
present it is difficult to give more than an approximate estimate as to the number of 
subvarieties actually cultivated. During the season of 1880 there were grown on 
the land of the Department of Agriculture, at Washington, thirty-eight subvarieties 
(several of which, though of different names, seem to differ botanically very little, if 
at all), and within the past month I have received directly from Natal the seeds of 
thirteen subvarieties there grown, which, so far as I am able at present to judge, do 
not correspond with any which I have previously examined. 

From the fact that these subvarieties hybridize quite readily I am led to infer 
that the number of distinguishable types cannot be far from seventy. 

As would naturally be expected, these different subvarieties vary considerably as 
regards external appearance, size, height, length of season required for complete 
development and maturing of the seeds, and consequently for the development of the 
maximum amount of crystallizable sugar. 

POINTS OF AGREEMENT FOR SUBVARIETIES. 

With but one or two anomalous exceptions all the thirty-eight varieties which I 
last year examined (and this years' work is confirmatory) agreed in the following 
points, viz : 

1. Soil required. — All varieties do well on soil of average fertility ; bottom lands 
raise the finest canes. 

2. Heat and moisture effects. — Like corn, considerable rain is advantageous after the 
plant has well begun its growth, provided, also, the following weather be quite warm. 

3. Time of reaching maximum sugar content. — All varieties reach a maximum sugar 
content at, or about, the time when the seed is fully matured. 

4. Maximum in different varieties. — This maximum content is practically the same for 
the different subvarieties ; it may be said in average years not to vary greatly from 
16 or 17 per cent, of crystallizable (cane) sugar in the juice. During this season, 
which has been exceptionally dry, the percentage of juice extracted has been some- 
what smaller, and maximum increased by dry season ; in consequence, the percentage 
of sugar in the juice has been increased to a maximum of 18 or 19 per cent. 

5. "Exponent." — The average purity (" exponent") of the different juices at ma- 
turity of the canes seldom falls below 70 per cent., and frequently exceeds 80 per cent. 
This " exponent," as I have termed it, is obtained by dividing the total cane-sugar 
in the juice by the weight of the total solids, the latter being determined by drying 
a given weight of the juice with sand, at 90° to 100° C. 

6. "Available sugar." — The "average available sugar "in the juices of matured 
canes varies from 8 to 13 or 14 per cent, of the weight of the juice, the lower figure 
being an average for all varieties while the higher figures are for the best varieties. 
This available sugar may be obtained by subtracting from the total solids the sum of 
the glucose and the " solids not sugar." Or, with juices from mature canes, prac- 
tically the same results are obtained by multiplying the percentage of cane-sugar in 
the juice by the "exponent." The first method of determining " available sucrose " 
is applicable to all juices; the second gives practical results where the " exponent " 
exceeds 65 or 70 per cent. 

7. Life history. — The life history of the different subvarieties of sorghum, so far as 
the composition of the juices can throw light upon the subject, is very similar for all, 
except that the actual time for reaching maturity varies considerably. 

The following table, deduced from the results of 2,739 analyses of sorghum canes, 
presents, in a condensed form, a very correct idea as to the actual development of 
the cane itself and of the changes in the juice : 

S. Mis. 51 5 



66 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Table showing general averages for the stages, as determined from the results of the same 

stage for all varieties of sorghum. 









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O 




c8 5 


*•"• N 


Stages.* 






is 


o 


feO 


Mi 


CO 


CO 




. u 


°£ 




© 






id 


■** 




■*=> 


H^> 


+s 


a 


-£ 2 


'en 




fcC 


+s 


ft 


© 


P 


© 


a 


a 


a 


© 


9 £ 






cS 


© 




ft 


© 


<0 


© 


© 


© 


a 








© 
> 


a 

P 


CO 

a 
P 


_ft 
w. 


© 

© 

Oh 


© 
ft 
02 


© 

u 

s 
Ah 


© 

© 

CM 


© 

© 


o 

ft 

H 


© 

Ah 




1 


7.5 


0.9 


1.93 


1.34 


59.06 


1.031 


4.29 


1.76 


1.75 


22.56 


0.40 


58 


2 


8.5 
8.8 


.9 
.9 


1.93 

1.78 


1.46 
1.39 


59.60 
59.67 


1.036 
1.037 


4.45 
4.50 


2.96 
3.51 


1.86 

1.78 


31.93 

35.85 


.95 
1.26 


69 


3 


57 


4 


9.1 
9.3 


.8 
.9 


1.83 
1.96 


1.44 
1.55 


61.61 
63.05 


1.041 
1.045 


4.34 
4.15 


4.34 
5.13 


1.91 

1.92 


40.98 
45.80 


1.78 
2.35 


70 
75 


5 


6 


9.7 
9.7 
9.3 

8.8 
8.9 
9.1 
9.0 
9.1 
8.9 
8.9 
8.7 
7.7 
8.5 
8.5 


.9 
.9 

1.0 
.9 
.9 
.9 
.9 
.9 
.9 
.9 
.9 
.9 
.9 

1.0 


2.02 
2.11 
2.10 
1.87 
1.81 
1.94 
1.81 
1.86 
1.82 
1.81 
1.73 
1.69 
1.44 
1.81 


1.60 
1.55 
1.63 
1.40 
1.38 
1.48 
1.37 
1.34 
1.32 
1.32 
1.22 
1.25 
1.15 
1.53 


62.79 
63.85 
65.68 
64.88 
64.83 
65. 02 
63.39 
62.99 
61.72 
60.45 
61.20 
60.17 
62.09 
56.04 


1.050 
1.052 
1.055 
1.058 
1.061 
1.063 
1.065 
1.066 
1.067 
1.067 
1.070 
1.078 
1.069 
1.080 


3.99 
3.86 
3.83 
3.19 
2.60 
2.35 
2.07 
2.03 
1.88 
1.81 
1.64 
1.56 
1.85 
3.09 


6.50 

7.38 

7.69 

8.95 

9.98 

10.66 

11.18 

11.40 

11.76 

11.69 

12.40 

13.72 

11.92 

12.08 


2.45 
2.19 
2.37 
2.42 
2.50 
2.72 
2.83 
2.82 
2.96 
3.15 
3.32 
4.07 
3.42 
3.62 


50.23 
54.95 
55.36 
61.47 
66.18 
67.77 
69.53 
70.15 
70.84 
70.21 
71.43 
70.90 
69.34 
64.70 


3.26 
4.06 
4.26 
5.50 
6.60 
7.22 
7.77 
8.00 
8.33 
8.21 
8.86 
9.73 
8.27 
7.82 


62 


7 


70 
111 


8 


9 


266 


10 


217 


11 


166 


12 


170 


13 


183 


14 


191 


15 


217 
339 


16 


17 


197 


18 


191 


19t 


30 







Among the points of most practical interest may be mentioned the following : 

1st. The changes in height, weight, diameter, aud total and stripped weight are 
not sufficiently important to require comment. 

2d. The percentage of juice extracted from the stripped stalks gradually increases 
up to the eleventh stage, then slowly diminishes until the close of the season. 

3d. The specific gravity of the juice, the percentage of sucrose, the percentage of 
solids not sugar, and the exponent regularly increase (with but one or two excep- 
tions) until the close of the season; and the percentage of glucose in the juice as 
steadily decreases from the first. 

It will here be noticed that the sucrose increases in the juice much more rapidly 
than do the solids not sugar; and this fact, taken together with the steady decrease 
of glucose, is the explanation of the equally steady increase of the exponent, which 
represents the comparative purity of the juices. 

* The "stages " to which reference is here made are defined as follows : 

SORGHUM. 



Stage. 



Development of plant. 



E 

F 

1 

"id 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 



Ahout one week hefore opening of panicle. 

Immediately before opening of panicle. 

Panicle just appearing. 

Panicle two-thirds out. 

'Panicle entirely out; no stem above upper leaf. 

Panicle beginning to bloom on top. 

Flowers all out; stamens beginning to drop. 

Seed well set. 

Seed entering the milk state. 

Seed becoming doughy. / 

Seed doughy, becoming dry. 

Seed almost dry, easily crushed. 

Seed dry, easily split. 

Seed split with difficulty. 

Seed split with more difficulty. 

Seed split with still more difficulty. 

Seed harder. 

Seed still harder. 

Seed still harder. 

Seed still harder. 



t This stage (£To. 19) was after the cane had ceased growing, late in the season ; it was determined 
■om cajies Nos. 23 and 24 only. 



from 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 67 

POINTS OF DIFFERENCE FOR SUB VARIETIES. 

Having given some points wherein the various sub varieties of sorghum resemble 
each other, I may state that they differ more or less distinctly in the following : 

Botanically they differ decidedly. 

(a.) Shape of seed head. — In the form of the seed head, which is loose and spreading 
in the Honduras varieties (i. e., " Honduras," "Mastodon," "Sprangle-top," "Honey 
Cane"), quite compact in the Liberian varieties (i. e., "Liberian," "Imphee," "Su- 
mach"), on a recurved stalk in "Rice" or "Egyptian corn," and with various inter- 
mediate modifications for other subvarieties. 

(&.) Size and appearance of seeds and glumes. — The proportionate sizes of seeds and 
glumes, as well as the size and color of the seeds, and the color and adherence or non- 
adherence of the glumes, are all strikingly noticeable. 

(c.) Height, weight, and diameter of stalks. — The height, weight, and diameter of the 
stalks are very different; thus the average above named are for the Honduras varie- 
ties considerably greater than for the varieties termed "Early Amber," "Liberian," 
"Sumach," "Imphee," &c. This statement is based upon a study of Tables Nos. 1 
to 38 of my last report on analyses of sorghum. (Department of Agriculture, Special 
Report No. 33 (1881), pages 1-55.) 

(d.) Time from planting to maturity. — The varying rapidity with which the different 
varieties come to maturity is one of the most striking physiological peculiarities ; 
thus three samples of Early Amber seed from different sections of the country, and 
planted at the same time, required, respectively, 77, 80, and 89 days for complete 
development; "White Mammoth," 102 days; three samples of "Oomseeana" from 
different sections, 104, 115, and 127 days; Chinese, 137 days: three samples of Hon- 
duras, 148, 157, 164, &c. (Vide page 96, Special Report, No. 33, Department of Agri- 
culture, 1881.) Excepting one sample of Honduras, all the sorghums mentioned, 
together with many more, were planted at the same date, in the same field, and had 
as nearly equal conditions of soil and treatment as could be afforded. 

ADAPTATION OF DIFFERENT VARIETIES TO DIFFERENT SURROUNDINGS. 

These facts show the necessity for discrimination in the selection of varieties, in 
order that such may be grown as shall prove well adapted to the climatic conditions 
of the region where they are to be introduced. Other things being equal, the quick- 
maturing varieties are best adapted to those northern latitudes which have a short 
summer season. The secret of the suceess of the Early Amber eane in the North is, 
in my opinion, the fact that it matures quickly, thus attaining its maximum sweet- 
ness long before serious danger of frost, rather than to any peculiar property of 
"granulating well," or to any greater content of sugar. For the same period of de- 
velopment this variety cannot be pronounced better than many others. 

On the other hand, reports from Texas and South Carolina convince me that the 
Honduras varieties may, with the long seasons there possible, be better, for the reason 
that there they do mature, then weigh nearly or quite twice as much per stalk as 
does the Early Amber, the juice is of equal purity and sugar conteut, and hence, with 
soil of equal fertility, nearly twice the average northern crop may be secured. 

A very valuable variety known as Link's Hybrid, originally from Tennessee, 
requires a little too long a season perhaps (101 days observed) to allow it to compete 
in the more northern States with the varieties which mature more quickly, but it is 
remarkably well adapted to the conditions of soil and climate in the section from 
which it came. 

(e. ) Working period. — Another very important consideration is the length of time 
after a cane first reaches maturity that the season and the habits of the plant con- 
spire to preserve the juice in condition fit for working; in other words, the longer the 
" working period" the better. 

The average length of time from planting to the death of the cane from frost seems 
to vary, in Washington, from 180 to about 200 days — six or seven months. As a rule, 
it appears that those canes which mature first ("Early Amber," "Early Golden," 
"Golden Syrup," &c.) continue to furnish juices of good, workable quality up to the 
time of their death from frost. Hence in this latitude these are the ones to be pre- 
ferred. 

I have stated very briefly some of the principal points of practical importance re- 
lating to the physiological development of this interesting plant. Many of these 
points, though seemingly simple, were ascertained only through long and patient 
investagation. The averages here presented are based upon an aggregate of from 
2,500 to 4,000 analyses of the growing plants, and they are further strengthened and 
confirmed by the results of over 1,800 analyses executed this year. In other words, 
it is hard to conceive of any great departure from truth in facts based upon such a 
considerable number of determinations. All smaller personal errors or errors inherent 



68 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

in analytical processes are likely to be partially or entirely eliminated ; at all events, 
these errors cannot exceed, on a juice containing 15 per cent, of cane sugar, -f- 0.2 or 
— 0.1 per cent., as has been demonstrated by a considerable number of careful exper- 
iments. Very few accepted facts of physical science rest upon a greater number of 
determinations. 

It appears, then, that for the whole working period of those varieties more or less 
well adapted for cultivation in Washington, the average composition of the juice was 
about as follows : 

Per cent. 

Cane sugar 13. 

Glucose 1.5 

Other organic solids 2. 

Ash a 1.0 



17.5 

The percentage of purity ("exponent") being not far from 74 per cent., and the 
cane sugar in excess of all impurities being about 8.5 per cent. 

These being averages for a long period, and including all the canes that may be 
said to give any promise of usefulness in that latitude, cannot be considered as the 
maximum results attainable with the best varieties. In fact, quite a number of 
varieties furnish juices which contain, during a very considerable number of weeks, 
fully 3 per cent, more available sugar than above stated; the composition of these 
juices being about as follows: 

Per cent. 

Cane sugar >. 16. to 15. 5 

Glucose 0. 6 to 1.0 

Other organic solids 2. to 2. 

Ash 1.0 to 1.0 

Or an amount of il available sugar" ranging from 11.5 to 12.4 per cent. That juices 
of this character will prove valuable for the production of- sugar and sirup I cannot 
doubt. That many practical failures have resulted from the inexperience and lack of 
knowledge of over-sanguine experimenters is not a matter for surprise ; the greater 
wonder is that any decided success should have been had within such a short time 
by novices in this branch of industry. 

I am happy to be able to present for your inspection two letters, one from Mr. 
Porter, of Red Wing, Minn., the other from Mr. A. J. Russell, of Jaynesville, Wis. 
(See end of this exhibit.) 

During the season of 1880, Mr. Porter made 4,000 pounds of marketable sugar which 
he sold at 9 cents per pound; during the same season Mr. Russell produced over 14,000 
pounds of sugar from one-third of his crop of molasses (the remainder of which was 
equally good) ; this sugar sold in Chicago for 10, 94, and 9 cents per pound according 
to quality, and the molasses brought in the same market 50 cents per gallon in car 
lots, and 55 cents per gallon in five-barrel lots. 

Both these gentlemen were embarrassed by inadequate machinery, but their decided 
success has encouraged them to continue as soon as better apparatus may be obtained. 

I claim that in the infancy of an industry requiring so much knowledge of manu- 
facturing methods, a few instances of conspicuous success should have more weight 
in the minds of scientific judges than a considerably greater number of failures. 

It should be remembered that time is required for the diffusion of practical knowl- 
edge, and that beginners are frequently but poorly prepared for the practical diffi- 
culties they are sure to encounter. Were a novice to be placed in charge of Bessemer- 
steel works, success could hardly be expected ; in like manner the management of a 
process of manufacture little less difficult, and which deals with organic substances, 
can hardly be left with safety to inexperienced men. 

Thus far I have presented facts. 

In conclusion, I would say that the judgment of a practical sugar maker of fifteen 
years' experience (Mr. Peter Lynch, of Baltimore, Md.), is to the effect that with selec- 
tion of proper varieties, good soil, good cultivation, and proper handling of the juices 
and sirups, the sum recoverable for sugar and sirup will be such as to yield a profit 
greater than could be expected from corn, growing during the same season upon the 
same soil. 

I present for your examination a considerable amount of printed and manuscript 
evidence bearing upon the points which I have already stated. 

I shall be pleased to have a most careful investigation by a committee of practical 
chemists, members of this academy. I feel assured that the magnitude of the interests 
at stake warrants me in thus asking an impartial verdict from men of acknowledged 
fairness and ability. 

November, 1881. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



69 



The letter of Mr. J. F. Porter, of Red Wing, Minn., will be found in the Appendix 
p. 123 ; the letter from Mr. A. J. Russell, of Janesville, Wis., is as follows, viz : 

Janesville, Wis., November 4, 1881. 
Dear Sir : Your favor of the 31st of October at hand . 

Before the* centrifugal broke, we had 14,752 pounds of dry commercial sugar, about 
like that we sent the Department and President Hayes. We had two-thirds of our 
melada left over until next season. By careful computation of what remained on hand' 
with the number of graining tanks emptied, and there was 44,256 pounds of dry com- 
mercial sugar. Most of it sold for 10 cents per pound. We sold some at 9 to 9^ cents. 
In 1880 the juice was poor, but we made here a sirup that sold to the jobbers in 
Chicago at 50 cents per gallon by the cargo. 

We have no machinery that we think adapted to sugar making profitably, and have 
confined ourselves to sirup, which we sell at 55 cents by the 5-barrel lots, &c. All my 
experiments on the stove for sugar this season were satisfactory in sugar. Will put 
in sugar machinery next year. 
Respectfully, yours, 

A. J. RUSSELL, 
Formerly of the firm of Waidner $■ Russell, and manager of the C. L. Sugar Works. 

To Peter Collier, Esq., 

Chemist, Agricultural Department, Washington, D. C. 



5.— REPORT UPON STATISTICS OF SORGHUM.* 



Hon. Geo. B. Loring : 

Sir: I respectfully present, in accordance with your requirement, sundry facts 
showing the status of sorghum production, from the census of the United States and 
from State enumerations. 

It will be seen great fluctuations in area have occurred, that the greatest extent of 
cultivation in the older States was during the war period, and that a decline followed, 
except in newer States rapidly advancing in settlement. 

There is scarcely any record of sugar, except in Ohio, where the product was greatest 
prior to 1870. 

In the more western States there has been a revival of interest and extension of 
cultivation since the introduction of the Early Amber variety, from which some sugar 
has been made. 

In 1860 and 1870 the census presented production as follows : 



Indiana 

Ohio 

Illinois 

Kentucky '. 

Missouri 

Tennessee 

Iowa 

Product of the above States . 
Product of other States 

Product of the United States 



1870. 



Gallons of sirup. 
2, 026, 212 
2, 023, 427 
1, 960, 473 
1, 740, 453 
1, 730, 171 
1, 254, 701 
t, 218, 636 



11, 954, 073 
4, 096, 016 



16, 050, 089 



1860. 



Gallons of sirup. 
881, 049 
779, 076 
806, 589 
356, 705 
796, 111 
706, 663 
1,211,512 



5, 537, 705 
1, 2,11, 418 



6, 749, 123 



The returns of sorghum in the recent census have not been tabulated except in two 
or three States. Only South Carolina and Kansas are complete, as follows : 




1880. 


1870. 




Acres. 
7,660 
25,643 


Pounds sugar. 

8,225 

18, 060 


Gallons molasses. 

276, 046 

1, 414, 404 


Gallons molasses. 
183, 585 


Kansas 


449, 409 


1 





* This document was transmitted to the committee March 26, 1882. at the request of the honorable 
Commissioner of Agriculture. The returns for 1882, being incomplete, are not included. 



70 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



The following States, in which the interest has been and is most prominent, are 
thus represented by local official enumerations : 



OHIO. 



Years. 



1862 
1863 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 



Acres. 



30, 872 
31, 255 
29, 392 
37, 042 
43, 101 
17, 804 
25, 257 

22, 231 

23, 450 
23, 072 
12, 932 

9,426 
12, 108 
13, 144 

15, 929| 

16, 104J 
16, 305 



Sugar. 



Pounds. 
27, 486 

27, 359 
41, 660 
56, 066 
46, 951 

20, 094 

28, 668 
27, 048 

21, 988 
25, 505 
34, 599 
36, 846 
36, 410 
21, 768 
25, 074 

7, 507£ 
11, 909 



Sirup. 



Gallons. 
2, 696, 159 
2, 347, 578 
2, 609, 728 
4, 003, 754 
4, 629, 570 

1, 255, 807 

2, 004, 055 
1, 683, 042 
2,] 87, 673 
1, 817, 042 

968, 130 

692, 314 

041, 510 

928, 106 

1, 185, 235 

1, 180, 255 

1, 273, 048 



MINNESOTA. 
(No official returns of sugar.) 



Years. 


Acres. 


Sirup. 


1868 




Gallons. 
81,375 


1869 


629 

728 

1,244 

859 

747 

1,146 

1,534 

1,695 

2,200 

3,207 

5,033 

7,317 


31,191 


1870 


56, 370 


1871 * 


73, 425 
78, 095 


1872 ■. 


1 


1873 


53, 226 


1874 


69, 599 


1875 


70, 479 


1876 


72, 489 


1877 


140, 153 


1878 . 


329, 660 


1879 


446, 940 


1880 









IOWA. 



Years. 


Acres. 


Sirup. 


Sugar. 


1865 


21, 452 

25, 796 

26, 243 
15, 768 


Gallons. 
1, 443, 605 
2, 094, 557 
2, 592, 393 
1, 386, 908 


Pounds. 
8,386 


1867 


14, 697 


1869 




1875 









ILLINOIS. 

(No official returns of sugar.) 



Years. 



1879. 
1880. 



Sirup. 




Gallons. 
1, 309, 400 
636, 216 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 
KANSAS. 



71 



Years. 



1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 



Acres. 



Sirup. 



Gallons. 



Sugar. 



Pounds. 



14, 103 
23, 026 
15, 714 
20, 784 
20, 292 
23, 665 



2, 390, 131 
2, 333, 566 



540, 338 
1, 149, 030 

839, 147 
1, 195, 066 
1, 166, 783 
1, 224, 557 



For twenty-five years past the average yield of sirup, varying from 16,000,000 
gallons per annum to 5,000,000 or 6,000,000, has probably averaged about 11,000,000 
gallons, valued at 65 cents to 40 cents. For sirup, fodder, and all purposes, the aver- 
age value of the crop may have approximated $8,000,000 per annum. 

J. R. DODGE, 

Statistician. 



6.— SORGHUM SUGAB-CANE. 

t 

New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. 



SORGHUM SUGAR-CANE. — EXPERIMENTS ON ITS GROWTH AND SUGAR PRODUCT. 

For the last forty years there have been experiments made to manufacture sugar 
from maize and from sorghum, and during the late civil war sorghum was grown in 
large quantity for the production of sirup, especially in the Western States. More 
recently the United States Commissioner of Agriculture has given much attention to 
the growing of sorghum, and to the manufacture of sugar from it. His reports for 
1879 and 1880 contain much interesting and valuable matter upon the subject. The 
growing of sorghum and the manufacture of siruo from it has come to be an estab- 
lished branch of farm industry in several of the Western States, and as more knowl- 
edge and skill are acquired, it is found that good granulated cane sugar can be 
made from it in paying quantities. A large amount of both sirup and sugar are now 
made every year in Kansas and adjoining States, and the proof appears to be com- 
plete that with a proper establishment for the manufacture, and skillful workmen, 
the business can be profitably carried on here. 

During the last session of our legislature a bill was passed entitled " An act to en- 
courage the manufacture of sugar in the State of New Jersey." This act provides 
that a bounty of $1 per ton may be paid by the State to the farmer for each ton of 
material out of which crystallized cane sugar has actually been obtained ; it provides 
also a further bounty of one cent per pound to be paid to the manufacturer for each 
pound of cane sugar made from such materials. After the passage of this act, the 
Senate, on motion of Senator Taylor, requested the Agricultural College to experiment 
on the sorghum plant, in order to further its cultivation by the farmers of this State. 
The following bulletin is published in compliance with this request. 

The sorghum was grown on the college farm, and the chemical work carried out in 
the laboratory of the experiment station. The investigation includes the trial of dif- 
ferent varieties of sorghum with special reference to their time of ripening and percent- 
age of sugar, as well as the study of the effect of different fertilizing ingredients, 
applied singly and in combination, upon the yield of sugar and seed. 

The field selected for the experiment is thoroughly underdrained, rather heavy 
piece of land, cropped last year with field corn grown on sod, to which a liberal dress- 
ing of barnyard manure had been applied. On that portion devoted to the trial of 
different varieties, Mapes's sorghum manure was used this year immediately before 
planting, at the rate of 600 pounds per acre. The seeds were kindly furnished by Dr. 
Peter Collier, chemist of the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Dr. Collier in his valuable reports has clearly shown that the condition of the 
ripening seed may be taken as an index to the condition of the juice of the plant. 
When the seeds have become so hard that they can no longer be split with the finger- 
nail the stalks will contain the maximum amount of sugar and minimum of glucose, 
and when this stage is reached the plant may be regarded as matured. 



72 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



The importance of using great care in the choice of seed is illustrated by the fol- 
lowing list of varieties : 

Wolf Tail Failed to mature before frost. 

Link's Hybrid Do. 

Liberian Do. 

Early Amber Seed failed to germinate. 

Neeazana Failed to mature before frost. 

Goose Neck Matured. 

Sorghum Do. 

Early Orange Failed to mature before frost. 

Oomeeseana Matured. 

Gray Top Failed to mature before frost. 

African Matured. 

Honduras Failed to mature before frost. 

Chinese , Do. 

Early Golden Matured. 

Of the fourteen varieties five only matured. Their relative value to the manu 
facturer is shown below : 













a 




o 









© 






a 


© 
OS 

© 


Q 

© 


o 

O 




O 


bo 


a 




-a 




o 




G 


«W 


cS 




O 


XJ1 


O 


^ 


H 


Percentage of juice 


60.3 


61.4 


58.8 


57. 5 


60.0 


Percentage of sugar in juice 


8.58 


7.28 


6.50 


7.60 


14.06 


Pounds of extractable sugar per ton 


104 


89 


76 


87 


169 







In a table on the following page it will be noticed that the Early Amber also 
matured; yielding under favorable conditions 162 pounds of sugar per ton of stripped 
and topped cane. Judging from this experiment the choice of variety for this section 
of the State is limited to the Early Amber and Early Golden. 

For the study of the effect of fertilizers sixteen adjoining plots, of one tenth acre 
each, were measured off, fertilized as stated in the table, and. planted May 23, 1881, 
with Early Amber seed. The cane was doubtless injured by the unusually severe 
drought; it was noticeable, however, that it suffered much less from this than corn 
planted on a neighboring field. It was harvested on the first of October. 

For samples to represent each plot, twenty average canes were cut from ten dif- 
ferent rows, immediately, weighed and after they had been stripped and topped again 
weighed and passed singly between the rollers of a heavy cane mill. The juice from 
each lot of twenty cane after it had been carefully mixed was used for the analysis. 
The determinations of cane sugar were made by means of the polariscope, using solu- 
tions clarified with basic lead acetate and 50 per cent, absolute alcohol. 

The plan of the experiment was, to ascertain the effect of each of the fertilizing 
materials applied singly and in combination on the production of sugar — to compare the 
effect of muriate of potash with that of sulphate of potash — and to determine 
whether by increasing the amount of phosphoric acid used per acre an advantage 
would be gained. The action of the fertilizers is best studied in the tabie under the 
heading, pounds of extractable sugar per ton of cane and per acre. It was expected 
that phosphoric acid would materially hasten the maturity of the cane; it appears to 
have exercised no decided influence in this respect. It caused, however, an increase 
of 250 pounds or nearly 30 per cent, of sugar over that yielded by plot No. 15. 

Muriate of potash used alone increases the gross weight of stalks very much more 
than sulphate of potash ; it increases too the yield of sugar per acre. It is a fact, 
however, of especial importance to the manufacturer that the yield per ton is 20 per 
cent, greater from the plot No. 12, on which the sulphate was used, than from the 
muriate plot No. 4. Muriates, too, if taken into the sorghum juice, cannot be removed 
by the process of manufacture now used, and interfere seriously with the crystalliza- 
tion of sugar. 

As has been well known for many years past, crude barn-yard manure must not 
be used directly on sugar-producing plants. Plot No. 11 draws attention once more 
to the fact. No noticeable increase in the amount of sugar was caused by it ; but a 
point of much greater importance is the positive statement of experienced men that 
sugar will not crystallize from sirup of canes which have been fertilized with it. 
A heavy dressing on corn land loses its injurious qualities in the course of a year, and 
sorghum following corn in rotation is benefited by it. 

The expression "extractable sugar" has been used in this table to indicate tha 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



73 



a portion only of the total amount of sugar has been extracted by the mill ; the 
bagasse or crushed cane when it is burned under the boilers or thrown on the compost 
heap still contains one-third of the sugar produced by the plant. If the profits of the 
business are so large that manufacturers can content themselves with two-thirds of 
the sugar, farmers should endeavor to turn this bagasse into food for sheep, by the 
process of ensilage. After a struggle which has now lasted more than twenty-five 
years, sorghum to-day does not occupy its true position among sugar-producing plants. 
Its advocates justly claim that this is due to our lack of information, not only in regard 
to the manufacture of sugar from it, but also in respect to its proper cultivation. 













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$6 10 


$7 50 


$3 40 


$13 60 


$0 00 


$9 50 


$11 00 


Pounds of sorghum per acre 


11, 515 


13, 3155 


14, 820 


16, 000 


14,440 


11, 170 


11, 640 


12, 390 


Pounds of stripped and topped cane 


















per acre 


8,406 


9,890 


11,263 


12, 160 


10, 830 


8,378 


8,846 


9,293 


Per cent, of juice extracted from 












stripped and topped cane 

Pounds of juice extracted per acre. 


69.6 


67.0 


66.4 


68.0 


66.8 


64.2 


65.1 


64.3 


5,851 


6,626 


7,479 


8.269 


7,234 


5,379 


5,759 


5,975 


Per cent, of sugar in juice 


9.70 


9.43 


9.00 


9.27 


9.68 


9.94 


10.51 


11.65 


Pounds of extractable sugar per 




















568 


625 


673 


767 


700 


535 


605 


696 


Pounds of sugar extracted per ton 




of cane 


135 
1,020 


126 
1,351 


120 

1,298 


126 
1,246 


129 
1,344 


128 
1,132 


137 

1,038 


150 


Pounds of clean seed per acre 


1,067 





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Cost of fertilizers per acre 


$17 10 
12, 590 


$1 60 
12, 680 


$40 00 
12, 375 


$6 50 
11,605 


$12 60 
11, 650 


$14 00 
12, 505 


$20 10 


$26 20 


Pounds of sorghum per acre 


13, 260 


14, 030 


Pounds of stripped and topped cane 


















per acre 


9,946 


9,510 


9,405 


8,820 


8,854 


9,504 


9,812 


10, 943 


Per cent, of juice extracted from 










stripped and topped cane 

Pounds of juice extracted per acre. 


67.3 


64.8 


64.4 


68.2 


69.0 


68.3 


68.9 


67.8 


6,694 


6,162 


6,057 


6,015 


6,109 


6,491 


6,760 


7, 419 


Per cent, of sugar in iuice 


11.43 


9.84 


9.57 


11.61 


9.73 


9.73 


9.44 


12.01 


Pounds of extractable sugar per 


















acre 


765 


606 


580 


698 


594 


632 


638 


891 


Pounds of sugar extracted per ton 




of cane 


154 

1,305 


128 
1,136 


122 
1,160 


158 
1,216 


134 

1,226 


133 
1,139 


130 
1,349 


Kit 




1,278 



* 16 per cent, phosphorio acid. 

For some time past authorities have felt thatthft hope of having a small sugar-house 
on each farm must be abandoned and that our attention must be turned towards the 
more rational plan of thoroughly-equipped manufactories in which the sorghum grown 
on neighboring farms can be worked quickly and economically by skilled operatives. 
This plan is now on trial at Rio Grande, Cape May County. Mr. Hilgert, an enter- 
prising and energetic business man of Philadelphia, member of the firm J. Hilgert's 
Sons, sugar refiners, has built and fitted up an extensive sugar-house at an expense 



74 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

of at least $60,000. This house during the past fall worked the cane of about 700 
acres. The product of crystallized sugar was sold to refiners at 7 and 8 cents per 
pound. The yield, although not as large as expected, is still regarded as satisfactory. 
The farmers of that section who calculated on an average yield of 10 tons of cane and 
30 bushels of seed per acre have been disappointed, the average yield per acre having 
been about 5 tons of cane and 20 bushels of seed, which sold readily for 65 cents 
per bushel. Mr. Miller, who was perhaps the largest cane-grower on the cape, raised 
on 120 acres 641 tons of cane and 2,500 bushels of seed. The total amount realized 
by him is reported to be $3,648. The coist of growing this crop is not known at pres- 
ent, but the reported cost for Iowa in the year 1873 is, exclusive of fertilizers, $12.50 
per acre. 

The result of the season's experiments is decidedly encouraging, considering the 
unfavorable circumstances. There has been a drought of unprecedented severity 
and length, so that the corn crop on the college farm was not more than one-quarter 
its usual amount. And yet the results, of sorghum-growing on the same farm, as 
given in the above table, are respectable. With a season having the average rain- 
fall a crop weighing from two to three times as much as that of the present one may 
safely be calculated on. 

The expense of hoeing and cultivating sorghum in the earlier stages of its growth 
are much greater than for field coru, and to those only accustomed to growing the 
latter crop it is discouraging. The plants are very small when they first come up, 
and look so much like common summer grasses that they may be mistaken for them, 
and for several weeks the grasses and weeds grow much the fastest. The later stages 
of growth of the sorghum'are very rapid. Those who intend to grow sorghum must 
then be very watchful of it in the early part of the season. It is most commonly 
planted in, drills from 3 to 3-£- feet apart, with hills about 15 to 18 inches apart and. 
having six or seven seeds to a hill. Some, however, plaut it in hills with rows 3 feet 
apart both ways. Each method has its advocates, but the latter costs the least for 
labor, and advocates for the other method claim that it does not yield nearly as much 
per acre. There is much to be learned in this respect by our farmers, and experiments 
should be made with care. 

The soil best adapted to it is said to be a sandy loam, though it will grow well on 
any ground that will produce Indian corn. It grows well on the same field year after 
year, only care being taken to keep the field rid of the seeds of weeds. A manure 
containing large percentages of sulphate of potash, a soluble phosphate of lime, and 
not much ammonia is probably the best and most economical for its growth. 

The value of the crop is considered to be mainly in the sugar, but the seed is found 
to be about equal to Indian corn in feeding value, and the crop per acre is not less 
than that of other common cereals. There are no good feeding experiments to show 
what may be the value of stalks from which the juice has been extracted. 

The field for enterprise in this direction is a large and inviting one, and it is to be 
hoped that the promise of the manufacture, and the bounty offered by the State, may 
lead to the permanent and profitable establishment of this branch of industry in our 
State. 

GEO. H. COOK, Director. 

New Brunswick, N. J., December 20, 1881. 



7.— BIO GRANDE SUGAR COMPANY, NEW JERSEY. 

A. — Letter from the president of the Rio Grande Sugar Company to the Tariff Commission. 

sorghum sugar. 

Office of the Rio Grande Sugar Company, 

Rio Grande, N. J., September 29, 1882. 

Dear Sir : I have the honor to submit to you the following statement touching the 
production of sorghum, and the manufacture of sugar and sirups therefrom : 

It will be needless to refer you to the reports on this subject of the Department of 
Agriculture, as these, doubtless, have been already placed before you. 

Thirty years ago the raising of sorghum sugar-cane created quite an excitement in 
this country, owing to the promised revolution it was to effect in the sugar produc- 
tion of the country. The failures that ensued are well known, and the production of 
sugar from northern cane has only had spurts of success, and up to about the present 
time has resulted only in disaster. • 

The raising of sorghum cane, now practiced among small farmers, produces only 
the crude molasses for which local demand may exist. 

During these thirty years the cane has been continually improving in quality, and 
yielding largely increased amounts of sugar in the juice. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 75 

The last report of the Department of Agriculture names some producers who re- 
turned nearly 16 per cent, of sugar. We have found it profitable to work it when as 
low as 8 per cent. 

Of first importance in the raising of sorghum cane is the selection of a proper 
climate. 

Second. A proper soil. 

Third. Skillful fertilization. 

Fourth. Proper appliances for conducting the processes in a systematic and skillful 
manner. 

In the report I am about to give you of the incipiency and success of the Rio Grande 
Sugar Company these matters have been carefully looked after. 

With regard to the selection of the land, it was made with a view of being near the 
waters of the ocean and bay, as the settlement of " Rio Grande' 7 is about 4 miles dis- 
tant from, and between, the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay. At such points the 
early frost of our autumn does not reach an injurious effect within thirty days of the 
time it does in the inland country but a few miles distant. 

The season for growing the cane is comparatively a short one, consequently a great 
gain arises from the longer period of time that can be secured for the late production 
of cane, and when it may be given ample time to come to a ripened condition. 

While upon this point it is well to note the large area of country that is applicable 
to this culture, and that fulfills the requisites as I have stated them ; for example, the 
large area included in the peninsula of which we are now speaking, as well as of the 
Delaware and Maryland peninsula, lying between Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. 

In raising sorghum in such a limited period of time for its growth the soil is a highly 
important element. 

The character of that occupied by the Rio Grande Company has demonstrated the 
fact that a rich soil is not a requisite ; it can be said that a comparatively poor and 
sandy soil may be considered the most desirable for this purpose, as the plant cannot 
absorb or receive any large quantities of salts (say potash salts) from such soil. 

The plant of these works has been erected in the most approved fashion, and in size 
and completeness will compare favorably with those of Cuba and the State of Louis- 
iana. 

The Rio Grande Sugar Company was organized in the year 1881 with a capital oi 
$250,000, based upon the works being almost completed at chat time by private hands, 
when an additional capital was taken, and the lands purchased, as it was shown that 
the only safe method of raising sorghum was for the company to undertake it, as the 
farmers immediately surrounding the locality, although able to produce it of proper 
quality, were not to be entirely depended on to deliver it in good condition, and. from 
fields in the order of fitness for grinding. 

The drought of 1881, together with the fact just mentioned, made the raising of 
cane during that season of small account. 

In the spring of 1882 about 1,000 acres of the 2,400 owned by the company were 
planted and liberally manured with Peruvian guano, enriched with sulphate of am- 
monia. 

The cane planted was chiefly of the Amber variety, as this ripens in three months 
after planting. 

Sufficient demonstration now exists to prove that sorghum can be successfully and 
profitably raised in the manner already mentioned. 

In the year 1880 the State of New Jersey passed a law granting a bounty of 1 cent 
a pound on sugar, and $1 a ton on cane produced for the term of five years ; therefore 
but three years now remain during which it may be taken advantage of. However, 
without this bounty, and with the existing rates of import duty on sugar, it is alto- 
gether possible that within the next decade the regions spoken of will be largely 
occupied by planters of sorghum, as these lands require some change of crops to re- 
lieve them from a condition of poverty. 

A large portion of Virginia and North Carolina will ultimately produce this cane, 
and it can be said that the benefit derivable from showing the way to improving such 
a large area of land is one of the most important considerations now existing in the 
United States. 

That the country should, in a short prospective period of time, be on the highway 
to independence in her sugar production, will add also to the interesting features of 
this matter. 

The Rio Grande Sugar Company was established in view of continued protection 
by the Government of the United States. I trust, therefore, it will not be a part of 
the acts of the Tariff Commission to reduce the duties on sugar, and thus possibly 
extinguish in its infancy so important a branch of industry. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

GEORGE C. POTTS, 

President. 

Hon. John L. Hayes, 

President Tariff Commission. 



76 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

B. — Capt. B. Bldkeley describing Ms visit to the Rio Grande Sugar WorJcs. 

Saint Paul, September 29, 1882. 

Dear Sir : On my way from your place to Washington I called at the office oi 
Mr. G. C. Potts, at Philadelphia, and presented your letter. Mr. Potts was down at 
the mill, but returned in the evening and called upon me at the hotel and cordially 
invited me to go down and see their works, which I did, and was especially gratified 
with my reception by Mr. Hughs, the chemist in charge of the mill, who took great 
pleasure in showing me over the mill and farm. This place is situated about 5 milrs 
north of Cape May, upon a sandy soil, about 8 feet above the salt water. The cane 
(about 900 acres) is well grown, except the part which was replanted. The seed did 
not all come up, and they attempted to plant more, and happened to get a good growth 
by that means ; but it failed to mature, and has, consequently, injured the balance of 
the crop ; but still it is the best crop that has ever been grown, so far as I know. 
They used about $6,000 worth of guano upon the crop, as Mr. Hughs informed me, but 
this land must be fed or it will not do for cane. Mr. Hughs says they will have 9,000 
tons of cane and 20,000 bushels of seed. They sold the seed last season for 65 cents 
per bushel, for feed, and have parties who stand ready to take the whole crop this 
season, but, possibly, at a reduced price, as corn is likely to be lower, and the seed 
will not be as high as last season, but they are promised a corresponding price for this 
season. • 

Their mill is put up without regard to expense, although not in just as good shape 
as they would build it if they had it to do again. The machinery was built by Morris, 
of Philadelphia, and is very substantial ; rollers 5 feet long and 30 inches in diameter; 
engine 125 horse-power, and boiler surface is equal to 600 horse-power ; four defecat- 
ing pans of 500 gallons each; four open evaporators, with copper pipe for the steam, 
and. two vacuum pans to complete the evaporation, and all work very well, except 
the vacuum pans. These are not equal to the other parts of the mill, as they will not 
take care of more than the produce of 150 tons of cane in twenty-four hours, while 
the mill would work 300 tons of cane in same time. They also have one filter-press 
for the scums, by which they save 1,000 gallons of juice in twenty-four hours, which 
is usually wasted. 

The men who are doing the work in the mill are, most of them, skillful men, espe- 
cially the men who are doing the boiling and finishing work of the manufacturing of 
sugar. They are making sugar for the refineries, and get 7 cents per pound at Phila- 
delphia, and are not using any bone coal at the factory. The sugar is run into wagons 
from the strike pans, and stands about three days to crystallize, and is then run 
through the mixer to the centrifugals, and barreled and sent to market. 

Mr. Hughs says they are averaging 8,000 pounds a day of sugar. They are only 
taking out the first sugar now, as they have not time to reboil ; but the sirup from 
the centrifugal is barreled to wait until after the grinding season is over. 

There are different kinds of cane grown in this place, but the dependence is upon 
the "Amber Cane." They have a very nice piece of li Early Orange " that promises 
well. Their crop polarizes from 9 to 15 per cent. 

Mr. Hughs is perfectly enthusiastic in regard to the future of this business. The 
company have 2,000 acres of land, and he thinks they will plant nearly the whole of 
it next season and will .put in another vacuum pan, so that they can handle all the 
juice from 300 tons of cane per day. 

The cane is, when fully ripe, or mostly so, out and seed cut off and piled in the field 
to dry. The*cane with the leaves on is bronght to the mill and ground day and night, 
so that in the morning the cane that was cut the day before has all been ground and 
worked continuously until finished. 

Mr. Hughs says that this crop will produce about 80 pounds Oi sugar to the ton, if 
no accident happens before it is all finished up. This is a very strong confirmation of 
all the hopes and expectations of the most sanguine friends of the sorghum-sugar 
industry. 

On my arrival at Washington I called upon Professor Collier and handed him a 
sample of sugar which Mr. Potts sent from their works, and informed him of what 
I had seen and expressed the hope that he would be able to visit the mill at Rio 
Grande during the first week in October, and would have asked the Commissioner to 
do so, but he was absent from the city. I hope that when he returns he will finally 
accept the invitation of the Rio Graude Company and visit their works. 

I hope that you may be able to go down next week and see for yourself. 
Respectfully, 

R. BLAKELEY. 

Prof. B. SlLLIMAN, 

New Raven, Conn. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 77 

C. — Mr. Harry W. McCall, of Donaldsonville, La.: A sugar planter's vieivs of the Eio 
Grande Sugar Company's plantation, in a letter to the chairman. 

Albemarle Hotel, New York, October 2. 

Dear Sir: Your letter of September 30 has just reached me here. I remember, 
when visiting the Rio Grande sorghum plantation, that Mr. Potts stated that you 
were coming there, and it is quite true that I was quite favorably impressed by what 
I saw. 

In regard to the special questions which you ask in your letter — whether it ap- 
pears to me that the sorghum merits "the character of a sugar-producing plant, 
adapted to a wide area of land outside of existing sugar districts' 7 ; also, if strong 
varieties of it might be cultivated '* with success in competition with Ribbon cane" — 
I would say, as to the first one, that I certainly think it merits the character of a 
sugar-producing plant, and that it is likely it will be found adapted to wide areas 
outside of the existing sugar belt. Like the Blue and Ribbon cane of Louisiana, I 
understand that it is killed or injured by a freeze, so that most of it must be gathered 
before this occurs. But it has this great advantage over our southern cane, that it 
may be planted late — in April say — and matures sufficiently to allow of cutting early 
in September, and, perhaps, earlier in some varieties. This fact, together with another, 
that it is propagated from seed instead of eyes, renders it, in my opinion, adapted to 
cultivation over a very wide extent of country. 

Your other question, whether I see reason to believe it could compete successfully 
with the Ribbon cane of Louisiana, I must answer by saying, as yet I do not, though it 
may, perhaps, turn out so. As I do not think there are data enough yet to answer 
this question decidedly, I have not formed an opinion on it. But I see no reason why 
any results obtained from sorghum at the North should not be also obtained at 
the South. So if it could be clearly jiroved a profitable crop at the North, it would 
be well worth trying at the South. But in order to do this we must have full figures 
and be sure they have been accurately kept. 

At the time I made my visit to the Rio Grande, they had just begun, and had not 
bad time to get their figures together, as I hope they will do before they finish. I 
saw enough to make me believe that the undertaking is a success. But to judge 
properly we must know how much sugar they get to the ton of cane, and how many 
tons to the acre, and what the total cost of making and cultivation, which they 
could not know with any certainty at the time I was there, though they appeared to 
be doing so well that I thought Mr. Potts quite justified in anticipating a profit. I 
can say no more for the present. 

If any of the above remarks prove of interest to you, you are most welcome to them, 
as also to any other information I may be able to give you in the future. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

HARRY W. McCALL. . 

To B. Silliman, Esq., 

New Haven, Conn. 



D. — Bio Grande Sugar Company's form of returns required by the State of JSlew Jersey to 

secure bounty. 
New Jersey, ss : 

■ — , being duly sworn, saith that the following is a correct and just state- 
ment of the quantity of , grown by him in the county of , for the purpose 

of being manufactured into sugar in this State, and that the same has been delivered 
at the manufactory of the sugar refinery, at Rio Grande Station, Cape May County, 
New Jersey. 

Dollars. Cents. 

Beets . — 

Sorghum — 

Sugar-cane — 

Sworn and subscribed the day of , 188-, before me. 



I, , clerk of the county of , do hereby certify that the aforesaid 

— is a resident in good repute of the county of , in the State of New 



Jersey. 

, Cleric. 

Manufacturer's certificate. 

I hereby certify that has delivered at the manufactory of the Rio 

Grand Sugar Company, at Rio Grande Station, Cape May Couuty, pounds of 



78 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

, stated to have been grown by him, and that the same has been manufactured 



into sugar. 
Dated , 188-. 

I do hereby certify that the above account is correct. 



Chief of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industries. 



8.— CHAMPAIGN SUGAR AND GLUCOSE MANUFACTURING COMPANY 

CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS. 

The following report of the operations of this company for the season 
of 1882 brings down the results only to October 28, being still some 
time before the completion of the rolling of cane. The results speak for 
themselves : 

Champaign, III., October 28, 1882. 
Sir: The undersigned have the honor to present to you the following report on the 
manufacture of sorghum sugar for the year 1882. Onr report is necessarily incomplete, 
as we are still in the midst of our season's work. But the gratifying results thus far 
obtained will, we hope, warrant reporting the data at hand. 

HENRY A. WEBER. 
MELVILLE A. SCOVELL. 
Prof. B. SlLLIMAN, 

Chairman of Sorghum Sugar Committee, National Academy of Science. 

As a result of the experiments carried on by the writers in the seasons of 1880 and 
1881, the Champaign Sugar and Glucose Company, of Champaign, 111., was organized. 
The object of the company was to carry out on a commercial scale the production of 
sugar and glucose from sorghum, as was indicated by our laboratory experiments. 
The company was organized with a capital stock of $25,000. The total expenditure 
for building the works and raising the crop, however, exceeds $30,000. The main 
building is 40 by 60 feet and three stories high, with a "lean-to," 45 by 30 feet, cover- 
ing the engine and crushers. Near the main building are situated the boiler-house, 
with two ninety horse-power boilers, and a kiln with twelve retorts for revivifying 
the bone-black. 

For the sake of convenience the description of the apparatus will be given in con- 
nection with the process followed in manufacturing sugar and sirup. 

The cane is conveyed by means of a carrier 50 feet in length to the first mill, a 
"Cuba No. 4," manufactured by George L. Squire, of Buffalo, N. Y., who kindly 
consented to the use of his rubber springs for our second mill, which was originally 
one of the rigid kind. 

After leaving the first mill the bagasse is moistened with a spray of hot water and 
is conveyed, by means of an intervening apron, to the second mill. By the use of 
this second mill the sugar which is left in the bagasse, after passing through a single 
mill, as is pointed out in the report of our experiments, is practically all recovered. 

The juice from the two mills is pumped together to the juice tanks, which are 
placed at the top of the main building and have a capacity of about 3,000 gallons. 
From here it is drawn to the defecators, where it is exactly neutralized With milk of 
lime in the cold, heated to the boiling point and thoroughly skimmed. These de- 
fecators are made of wood lined with galvanized iron and supplied with copper coils 
for heating. Four of them have a capacity of 660 gallons each, and one of over 
1,300 gallons. After settling, the juice is allowed to run into the evaporators, where 
it is concentrated to a density of 25° Beaum6. The evaporators are two in number, 
8 feet in diameter, made of copper, and supplied with copper coils. From the evapora- 
tors the liquor runs into settling tanks, and next through bone-coal filters. The niters 
are four in number, 2 feet in diameter, and 12 feet high. The liquor is next drawn 
up into the vacuum pan, where it is concentrated into melada. The crystallization 
of the sugar takes place in the vacuum pan, and could at once be run into the mixer 
and centrifugals. Owing to the fact that only one centrifugal has thus far been sup- 
plied, the strikes from the pan are usually run into crystallizing wagons, and placed 
in a warm room until the sugar can be " swung out." There are fifty of these wagons 
having a capacity of 120 gallons each. 

The quality of the sugar produced is unobjectionable in regard to taste and color. 
It grades as extra yellow C, and' sells readily at the factory at 8| cents per pound in 
lots of five barrels. The molasses is of a dark color, but still rich in cane sugar. It 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 79 

is stored up in barrels and will be kept until the cane is all harvested, when it will 
either be refined or worked over for a second yield of sugar. 

The company raised 190 acres of cane, 8 acres of which is " Kansas Orange," about 
40 acres " Early Orauge," and the rest " Early Amber." Private parties planted 
about 100 acres more, all of which was Early Amber, with the exception of one field 
of Early Orange containing 12£ acres. 

The company began working up their Amber cane on September 21. An analysis 
of the juice was made, with the following result : 

Specific gravity - 14. 8° Brix. 

Cane sugar 8. 20 per cent. 

Grape sugar «. 3. 63 per cent. 

The best Amber cane of the company was grown on sod ground, the field contain- 
ing 50 acres. 
The composition of the juice of this field on October 21 was as follows: 

Specific gravity 1. 060 

Cane sugar 10. 17 per cent. 

Grape sugar 2. 48 per cent. 

Owing to the lateness of the season one continuous run was made, and the cane 
raised by private parties was worked up with the company's cane, so that it will be 
impossible to give the yield per ton and acre before the close of the season's work. 

One field of Early Orange, grown by Mr. J. G. Clark, has been harvested by itself 
and the products kept by itself. Of this field and variety of cane exact data can be 
given. The composition of juice October 24 was as follows : 

Specific gravity 1. 070=16. 3° brix. 

Cane sugar 10. 82 per cent. 

Grape sugar 3. 54 per cent. 

Number of acres in field 12. 5 

Total amount of cane stripped and topped 156 tons. 

Yield per acre 12. 5 tons. 

Amount of juice ~ 20, 939 gallons. 

Weight of juice 185, 947 pounds. 

Per cent, of juice 59. 6 

Weight of melada 25, 920 pounds. 

Weight of sugar 9,900 pounds. 

Weight of molasses 16,020 pounds. 

Gallons of molasses 1, 456 

Yield of sugar per acre ,. 790 pounds. 

Yield of molasses per acre 116. 5 gallons. 

In this statement the amount of water added in moistening the bagasse before 
passing through the second mill has been deducted from the total amount of juice 
obtained. 

The melada obtained from the Amber cane is fully as rich in sugar as that obtained 
from the Orange. The yield of sugar and molasses per acre will be lower for some of 
the fields of Amber, but for others it will be fully as high and in a few cases perhaps 
even higher. 

It is not more than fair to add that for this section of the country the season has 
been very unpropitious for the proper development of sorghum cane. This will be 
seen at a glance by comparing the analyses given herewith those made in this locality 
last year and the year before, as given in our report. The necessary hot summer 
temperature for the production of a high percentage of sugar was entirely wanting. 
But, on the whole, the sorghum-sugar industry is to be congratulated for this cold, 
wet season, as the flattering results, which we are nevertheless obtaining here, will 
forever silence the claim that sugar can be made from sorghum only under the most 
favorable circumstances. 



9- EXPERIMENTS IN AMBER CANE, ETC., AT THE EXPERIMENTAL FARM 

MADISON, WIS., 1881. 

REPORT. 

To his Excellency J. M. Rusk, Governor: 

In conformity to chapter 211 of the general laws of 1881, I herewith present a re- 
port of the experiments in Amber cane and ensilage of fodders, conducted upon the 
university experimental farm the past season. 

Most fortunately, Mr. Magnus Swenson was secured as chemist in these experi- 



80 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

ments, and too much credit cannot be given him for his un tiring zeal in the dim cult 
task to which he was assigned. Such an experiment as securing sugar from Amber 
cane in anything like a practical way is a most difficult undertaking. Every step in 
the process is along an unknown road, and the many failures in past years show that 
scores of persons who thought they were certain of success only attained defeat. 

Fortunately Mr. Swenson understands machinery as well as chemistry, and was en- 
abled to design and superintend the construction of the machinery used. By this 
means a great saving was effected in the cost of machinery needed. Had it been 
otherwise, the funds would not have been sufficient for the work. 

I present Mr. Swenson's report as handed to me, believing that in it those interested 
in Amber cane will find information that cannot but prove of great value to them. 
The fact that good marketable sugar can be obtained from Amber-cane at the rate of 
1,000 pounds to the acre, by methods even more practicable when used on a large 
scale than in the present case, is a cause for gratification, I think. 

It is proposed to distribute samples of sirup and sugar obtained in the experiments, 
in such a way that they can be seen at all the agricultural gatherings held this win- 
ter throughout the State. 

Having experimented but a single season, it is needless to say that much remains 
to be done yet, and many problems are still awaiting solution. 

In addition to the experiments, I have tried to learn the condition of the industry 
throughout the State and have taken steps to familiarize our farmers with what we 
are trying to do. 

In April last a twelve-page circular relative to Amber cane was prepared and 3,000 
copies distributed. 

This fall 1,500 copies of a circular letter, making inquiries regarding the cane crop, 
were prepared and sent to all whom I thought could aid us. In answer to these cir- 
culars I have replies from 180 manufacturers of Amber-cane sirup, who report having 
made about 350,000 gallons of sirup this year. A list of these manufacturers, to- 
gether with amount of sirup made by each, is herewith given. Other valuable in- 
formation from these reports is given in its proper place. 

In regard to the second experiment, the ensilage of fodders, permit me to say that 
a silo was built and filled last summer, and experiments are now in progress to de- 
termine the value of the ensilage. So far the indications are very favorable, but it 
is too soon to make any definite statements. As complete a report as possible is 
herewith presented. It is planned that Mr. Swenson investigate the subject, from 
the chemical side, this winter, and upon this point much remains yet to be known. 

As required by the act above named, I have made a detailed, statement of the 
moneys expended up to the present. It will be seen that we have not yet expended 
the sum granted. 

Most respectfully submitted. 

W. A. HENRY, 
Professor of Agriculture, University of Wisconsin. 

Experimental Farm, University of Wisconsin, 

Madison, Wis., December 31, 1881. 

Experiments with Sorghum Canes. 

By Magnus Swenson. 

The chief object of the experiments conducted during the past season (1881) has been 
to demonstrate the practicability of making sugar from cane grown in this State. For 
this reason the work has been carried on in a thoroughly practical manner. My results 
are not based on theory ; they do not show what might be obtained, but what has 
actually been done. The amount of sugar obtained is not deduced from the amount 
present in the cane or sirup, but represents what has actually been crystallized and 
separated as sugar. 

MACHINERY. 

The apparatus used consisted of one horizontal mill, made by the Madison Manu- 
facturing Company ; one ten horse-power steam boiler ; one defecator of galvanized 
sheet iron, 3 feet high, 2.5 feet in diameter, and heated by a steam coil made of 1-inch 
gas pipe; two galvanized iron evaporating pans, the larger 6 feet long, 3 feet wide, 1 
foot deep ; the smaller 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, 8 inches deep, both heated by steam 
coils ; one globular vacuum pan 30 inches in diameter ; one wet air-pump for ex- 
hausting the vacuum pan ; one centrifugal machine for separating the sugar from the 
sirup, 1£ feet in diameter and 4 inches deep ; one small steam pump for feeding the 
boiler and running the vacuum pan and centrifugal machine. 



SOEGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. r 81 

CANE-SUGAR AND GLUCOSE. 

Before passing on to the actual experiments, a few pages will be devoted to the 
general properties of cane-sugar, and the substances occurring with it in the cane 
juice. The average cane contains about 85 per cent, of juice aud 15 per cent of dry 
bagasse. The juice from the average cane obtained on the farm consisted of 9.5 per 
cent, cane-sugar, 3.2 per cent, glucose, 2.3 per cent, organic acid and vegetable matter, 
and 85 per cent, water. Cane-sugar is a compound substance composed of 12 parts 
carbon, 22 parts hydrogen, 11 parts oxygen ; or, since 1 part oxygen aud 2 parts hydro- 
gen form water, we may consider cane-sugar to be made up of 12 parts carbon and 
11 parts water. 

Glucose, or grape sugar, as it is also called, is composed of 12 parts carbon, 24 par Is 
of hydrogen, 12 parts of oxygen, or 12 parts carbon and 12 parts water. The only 
difference between the two is 1 part of water. If a solution of cane-sugar in water 
is heated with a small quantity of almost any acid, it takes up one more part of 
water, and thus becomes changed to glucose. Almost the same thing takes place 
when a solution of cane-sugar is acted upon by a ferment, such as yeast, or, even by 
simply heating for some time, large quantities of the crystaliizable cane-sugar are 
changed. The one important thing in the boiling down of cane juice is to guard 
against this change. As seen before, the destruction of cane-sugar may be induced 
in three different ways: 1st. By the presence of an acid. 2d. By the presence of a 
ferment. 3d. By high and prolonged heat. We will discuss them in order. 

PRESENCE OF AN ACID. 

All cane juice contains a considerable proportion of free organic acids. If, there- 
fore, the juice be boiled down without first neutralizing these acids, a large part of 
the cane-sugar will be changed into glucose. The amount of cane-sugar destroyed 
may be seen from the following experiment: Six hundred pounds juice, containing 
9.96 per cent, cane-sugar and 3.45 per cent, glucose, was taken directly from the mill 
and boiled down to sirup. The sirup was found to contain 22.4 per cent, cane-sugar 
and 56.3 per cent, glucose. If no inversion had taken place, the sirup should have 
contained 58.3 per cent, cane-sugar; so we see that 61.6 per cent, of all the cane- 
sugar originally in the j nice had been changed into glucose. Glucose has only one- 
third the sweetening power of cane-sugar, and its presence prevents, to a large ex- 
tent, the crystallization of cane-sugar. The light colored, putty-like deposit in Amber 
sirup, which is often mistaken for cane-sugar, is glucose. 

USE OF LIME. 

If lime is added to the juice it will combine with and neutralize the acid, and this 
union of the lime and acid forms a new substance, which becomes, to a large extent, 
insoluble, and is removed with the scum, what remains in the solution having no 
effect whatever on the cane-sugar. But here we meet with auother difficulty. If 
more lime than is necessary to neutralize the acid has been added, although the 
excess has no effect whatever on the cane-sugar, it will at once begin to decompose 
the glucose, changing it into a series of very dark and bitter products, which will 
impart a dark color, and a bitter, burnt taste to the sirup. Fortunately we are in 
the possession of a very simple test which tells when lime enough has been added. If 
a piece of blue litmus paper is dipped into water containing a small quantity of acid, 
it at once turns red; and if a piece of red litmus paper is dipped into water made 
slightly alkaline by the addition of a little lime water, it at once turns blue. If, 
now, to a portion of the acidified water we add gradually some lime water, we will 
soon arrive at a point when the solution will have no effect on the color of either red 
or blue litmus; in other words, it is neither alkaline nor acid, but neutral. This will 
be treated of again under the head of defecation. 

FERMENTATION. 

The next thing which tends to destroy the cane sugar is fermentation. This process 
begins almost immediately after the juice leaves the mill, and when the weather is warm 
large quantities of sugar are lost in this way. Fermentation is at once arrested by heat- 
ing the juice to near the boiling point. Cane juice should therefore never be allowed to 
Temain standing any length of time, but should be defecated as soon as possible after com- 
ing from the mill. 

HIGH TEMPERATURE. 

High and prolonged heat is very destructive to crystaliizable cane sugar. At first the 
temperature will not vary much from that of boiling water, or 212° F., but as it becomes 
more and more concentrated the boilir.g point gradually rises, until, when the sirup is 
S. Mis. 51 <s 



82 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

thick enough for sugar making, the boiling point is from 232° to 234°. The destruction 
of sugar takes place long before this point is reached. To get the best results the sirup 
should not be boiled in an open pan after it reaches a density of 20° B. , but should 
then be transferred to the vacuum pan. During the first part of the boiling in this pan 
the temperature should not exceed 170° F. , and when the sirup becomes denser a more 
complete vacuum should be maintained so as to boil it about 140° F. ; in fact, the lower 
the temperature the better. 

The varieties of cane raised on the farm during the past season were confined to the 
Early Amber, Early Orange, and Honduras. Of these the Early Amber is unquestionably 
the best for sugar making, and our experiments were confined largely to this variety. 
The total amount of juice in this cane is about 85 percent, of the total weight of the stalks, 
and the juice contained 9. 20 per cent, cane sugar and 3. 4 per cent, glucose. This content 
of sugar represents the average of not less than 200 pounds of stalks stripped and topped, 
the greater part of which were lodged. Moreover, the land on which this cane was grown 
was quite low, and the soil, a cold, clay loam, not well adapted for cane growing. Tak- 
ing these facts in connection with the bad season, it must be looked upon as below the 
average yield. 

DEVELOPMENT. 

The development of the Early Amber cane raised on this farm may to some extent be 
seen from the following analyses, which have been made by me during the summer and 

fall: 

August 10 : 

Cane sugar 3. 00 

Glucose _' 4.50 

August 20 : 

Cane sugar . 8.20 

Glucose 5.10 

September 6 : 

Cane sugar 9.22 

Glucose 4.20 

September 14 : 

Cane sugar 9.96 

Glucose 3. 45 

September 17 : 

Cane sugar 9.86 

Glucose 3.32 

September 20 : 

Cane sugar 10. 02 

Glucose 3.23 

September 22 : 

Cane sugar — 11.05 

Glucose 2.60 

September 29 :* 

Cane sugar 8.59 

Glucose 3.50 

September 29 :* 

Cane sugar 8.60 

Glucose 3.50 

September 29 :* 

Cane sugar 8.61 

Glucose 3.44 

October 3 : 

Cane sugar 12.67 

Glucose . 2.43 

♦This cane was lodged by storm. 

From these we see that the cane sugar gradually and rapidly increased, while the glu- 
cose slowly decreased, from the time of flowering to the maturity of the seed. During 
the latter part of September, most of the cane was lodged by a very violent wind and 
rain storm. The juice from the stalks that were lodged was charged, with a red coloring 
matter, the inside of the entire stalk being in many cases of a bright red color. Several 
of the stalks contained but a small portion of red coloring matter, but instead had a 
peculiar yellow and watery appearance, and quite a disagreeable taste. The juices from, 
these contained on an average only 8 per cent, sugar, and 4.8 per cent, glucose. 



SOKGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



83 



EFFECT OF LEAVING CANE CUT IN THE FIELD. 

A number of stalks still in good condition, the juice of which contained 9. 50 cane sugar 
and 3.25 glucose, were cut and left in the field ten days, during almost constant rain. 
At the end of the ten days the juice contained 5.98 cane sugar and 6.15 glucose. Some 
Early Orange cane was also cut September 20, when the juice contained 10. 50 cane sugar 
and 4. 95 glucose, and was left in the field till November 2, when the juice contained 13.80 
glucose, while not a trace of cane sugar was present. These experiments show conclu- 
sively that if cane is cut or injured and left exposed to rain, the destruction of cane sugar 
goes on very rapidly, being in time entirely changed into glucose. The rapidity of the 
change depends, of course, in great degree on the weather. 

EFFECT OF LEAVING CANE CUT, UNDER SHELTER. 

In order to ascertain the effect of leaving cane under cover, two tons of Early Amber 
cane were cut, the juice containing 10.02 per cent, of cane sugar and 3.23 per cent, of glu- 
cose. One-half was topped and stripped and both lots were placed on the floor of the 
barn. The change taking place may be seen from the following table: 



September 20. 



The cane freshly cut. 



October 4. 



After two weeks : 

(Stripped) 

(Unstripped) . 



October 19. 



After four weeks : 

(Stripped) 

(Unstripped) ... 



November 2, 



After 6 weeks : 
(Stripped) . 



December 20. 



After 13 weeks : 
(Stripped)... 




Glucose. 



3.23 



6.21 
6.00 



3.41 
3.74 



3.74 



6.80 



To judge by the table the cane changes very slowly, but in reality the loss of sugar is 
quite rapid. If no loss of sugar took place, the juice would of course become richer in 
sugar, on account of the evaporation of part of the water. In reality this is not the case. 
The cane sugar becomes gradually changed to glucose, which in turn is destroyed by fer- 
mentation. In this way the juice may become even richer in sugar, but* the quantity of 
juice is greatly diminished. The juice becomes also very acid. The effect produced by 
shocking the cane in the field was tried, with very unsatisfactory results, the cane sugar 
being destroyed very rapidly. 

EFFECT OF LEAVING CANE STRIPPED IN THE FIELD. 

One part of a patch of Minnesota Early Amber cane was stripped of leaves and left 
standing in the field from September 15 to September 22. It was then cut, and the 
juice, together with some that had not been stripped, was analyzed, with the following 
result: 



Cane stripped for one week 
Same cane not stripped 




Glucose. 



3.25 

2.78 



The diminution of sugar is undoubtedly due to the fact that the latent leaf buds found 
under each leaf begin to develop into new leaves. These new leaves are formed partly 
at the expense of the sugar in the cane. 



84 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

DEFECATION. 

The juice after it leaves the mill has a more or less green color, due to the presence of 
large quantities of ehlorophyl and other vegetable substances, which must be removed. 
This process is known as defecation. The defecator, or the vessel in which this opera- 
tion is conducted, may be of wood. Copper is perhaps the best material, but is much 
more expensive. The vessel should be furnished with a steam coil, with sufficient ca- 
pacity to heat the juice to the boiling point in a short time. As soon as the juice is 
expressed it should be removed to the defecator, where it should be heated at once to 
about 175° F., or just about hot enough to enable a man to hold his hand in the juice 
without being scalded. Milk of lime, freed from all coarse particles by straining, should 
then be added until a slip of red litmus paper becomes changed to a faint purple when 
dipped into the juice. The lime should be added in small portions, the juice being vig- 
orously stirred with a paddle after each addition. When the right quantity has been 
added, the juice must be heated as quickly, as possible. A thick green scum will soon 
come to the surface. When the boiling point is reached — which is shown by the swell- 
ing and breaking up of the scum — the heat should be stopped and the juice left quiet 
for about five minutes. The scum will then be quite hard, and may be easily removed 
from the surface of the clear liquid. Much will depend on a good defecation. If the 
defecation has been properly conducted, the liquid will be clear, free from particles, and 
of a pale yellow color. If the scum is of a light color and thin, while the liquid below 
is opaque and has a greenish color, it shows that too little lime has been added; while if 
thejuice is very dark, too much lime has been used. Much nicety of judgment is re- 
quired to make a good defecation, which can only be obtained by experience. 

USE OF SULPHUKOUS ACID. 

The clear j uice from the defecator is now tolerably pure, most of the impurities having 
been eliminated. It contains, however, considerable lime, which if allowed to remain 
will give us a dark sirup, and if present in sufficient quantities will impart a more or 
less bitter taste to the sirup. To avoid this we must neutralize the lime, just as before 
we neutralized the acid. For this purpose sulphurous acid is much used. This acid 
may be added to thejuice in the defecator after removing the scum, or it may be added 
to the juice in the evaporating pan. A sufficient quantity should be added to give to the 
juice a distinct acid reaction, or until a slip of blue litmus paper, dipped into thejuice, 
is reddened. To accomplish the same result, many preparations have been sold to the 
farmers and other sirup manufacturers by agents and peddlers. I would here advise 
every one to leive all such preparations alone. Most of them are either harmful or good 
for nothing, while others are but modifications of the methods which I have described 
and for which the buyer pays au exorbitant price. As long as I remain at the univer- 
sity inquiries as to any method will be answered. Before closing this report we will 
describe methods by which sulphurous acid may be made at sirup works. 

BOILING TO SIRUP. 

The juice should be boiled down as rapidly as possible, the scum which comes to the 
surface being skimmed off. If conducted entirely in an open train it should be concen- 
trated till it boils at about 234° F., which corresponds to about 45° B. If a vacuum 
pan is used the sirup should be transferred to it when it has a density of about 20° B. 
It should then be concentrated to about 44° B., at as low a temperature and as quickly 
as possible. If the sirup is made too thick, the crystals of sugar will be small and diffi- 
cult to separate; while if too thin the crystallization will take place very slowly. After 
the sirup has been boiled down to the proper density it should be placed in a room 
where the temperature may be maintained at about 90° F. to crystallize. The crystal- 
lization usually begins in a few hours, and in five or six days the sugar may be sepa- 
rated. The sirup may be boiled down a second time, and a second crop of crystals equal 
to about one-half the quantity of the first may be obtained in a couple of weeks. A 
good yield of sugar may be obtained if the following rules are strictly adhered to: 

1. Do not cut the cane until the. seed begins to harden. 

2. Do not allow the cane to stand stripped in the field. 

3. Work up the cane as soon as possible after being cut. 

4. Defecate the juice as soon as possible after leaving the mill. 

5. For defecation use milk of lime, freed from coarse particles by straining; add it 
gradually to thejuice with vigorous stirring until a piece of red litmus paper is turned 
to a pale purple. 

6. Heat thejuice quickly to the boiling point, as shown by the swelling and breaking 
of the scum. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



85 



7. Remove the scum after allowing the juice to remain quiet for five minutes. 

8. Draw off the clear juice through an aperture near the bottom of the defecator into 
the evaporating pan. 

9. Add sulphurous acid to the clear juice until a piece of blue litmus paper is red- 
dened.* 

10. Evaporate down until it reaches a density of 45° B. , or, if boiled in an open pan, 
to a boiling temperature of 234° F. 

11. Place in a warm room to crystallize, and in about a week it will be ready to sep- 
arate. 

EESULTS. 

Below will be found a table containing the summary of the results obtained from two 
plots. Plot A was planted with seed obtained from Mr. Seth Kinney, of Morristown, 
Minnesota. Plot B was planted with seed from Mr. Charles Eustis, of Fort Atkinson, 
Wisconsin. Plot A was very much exposed and a great deal of the cane was lodged, 
while Plot B was more sheltered and the cane was in better condition : 



0> 0> 



O 



o 






£ e3 e3 



4» U> 

V cj 

33 8 



Area of plots in acres 

Total weight of cane 

Total weight of juice in cane 

Weight of juice expressed 

Weight of juice left in bagasse 

Percent, oif cane sugar in juice 

Per cent, of glucose in juice 

Total weight of cane sugar in cane 

Weight of cane sugar in expressed juice. 

Weight of cane sugar in bagasse 

Weight of sirup obtained 

Weight of cane sugar separated 

Weight of molasses 

Bushels of seed 



4,669 

3,875 

2,680 

1,195 

9.24 

3.53 

358 

248 

110 

332 

142 

190 



30,348 
25,187 
17, 420 

7,767 



2,327 
1,612 

715 
2,158 

923 
1,235 
27* 



4,710 

3,909 

2,732 

1,177 

10.53 

2.68 

415 

290 

125 

408 

199| 

208£ 



23, 550 
19, 545 
13,660 

5,885 



2,075 
1,450 

625 
2,040 

997i 
1,042* 
32 



A glance at the table will show at once the wastefulness of the present mode of ex- 
tracting the juice. Out of 85 per cent, in the cane, only 60 per cent, was obtained, or 
nearly 30 per cent, of the sugar in the cane was left in the bagasse. This loss is un- 
doubtedly smaller than that sustained in the majority of cases, as 60 per cent, of juice 
is larger than the average per cent, obtained by the small mills usually employed. The 
absurd theory, that if too much juice is expressed it will cause the whole to "sour," 
make a poor sirup, &c. , is entirely false. 

THE DIFFUSION PEOCESS. 



The diffusion process for extracting the sugar from both beets and cane is now em- 
ployed in nearly all of the principal factories. The cane is cut into thin slices by rapidly 
revolving cutting machines, the sugar being extracted from these by the use of water. 
If the pieces of cane are placed in a vessel and a quantity of water* equal to the quantity 
of juice in them be added, part of the sugar will at once pass through the cell walls into 
the surrounding water, while part of the water will enter the cells. This will continue 
until the liquids inside and outside of the cell walls are of the same density. If this 
water be drained off it will contain half the sugar. If, now, this same cane be treated 
with equal and successive portions of water, each portion, when drained off, will contain 
one-half of the sugar contained in the cane at the time when it was added. In other 
words, the cane will retain after each draining one-half, one-fourth, one-eighth, one- 
sixteenth, one-thirty-second, etc., of the sugar originally in the cane. In practice this 
process is carried on in such a way that the water is used over again on successive por- 
tions of cane until it becomes nearly as rich in sugar as the juice, only about 20 per cent, 
of water being added. An apparatus working on this principle has been invented in 
Europe, in which slices of cane or beets are made to pass upward through a cylinder, by 

♦This step may be omitted if no excess of lime has been added during defecation. It will have no 
effect on the quantity of sugar obtained, but will make a lighter colored molasses. 



86 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



the aid of a mechanical feeder, while water passes in at the top of the cylinder, and in 
passing down becomes more and more charged with sugar, until it issues from below, 
carrying with it almost the whole of the sugar from the cane. 

In this way it is claimed 94 per cent, of all the sugar in the cane is obtained, or 24 per 
cent, more than that obtained by an average good mill. This difference would consti- 
ute an immense profit in a large establishment. The juice is, moreover, perfectly clear, 
containing but small quantities of chlorophyl and other vegetable matter, which occur 
so abundantly in juice expressed by the mill. A better sirup and a larger yield of sugar 
is the result. 

CANE FOR SIRUP MAKING. 

For the making of sirup exclusively some experiments were made with the Early 
Amber, Early Orange, and Honduras. Three plots were planted, one with each variety, 
in close proximity to each other. They received the same amount of cultivation, and the 
comparative results are, we believe, as fair as they can possibly be made. The plots were 
each one-fifth of an acre; and for convenience sake, the results in the following table are 
calculated to one acre: 



Early 


Early 


amber. 


orange. 


23, 520 


31,000 


13,660 


17, 966 


58.80 


57.95 


8.0 


8.5 


10.63 


10.50 


2.68 


4.95 


180 


239 



Hondu- 
ras. 



Weight of stripped stalks 

"Weight of juice expressed 

Per cent, of juice expressed 

Degree Baume of juice 

Per cent, of cane sugar in juice 

Per cent, of glucose in juice 

Gallons of sirup obtained 



42,330 

24,433 

57.70 

7.0 

7.00 

4.20 

265 



There was no marked difference in the quality of these different kinds of sirup, and it 
would certainly repay the cane growers to try the Honduras as a sirup-producing cane. 
One great obstacle, however, is that the seed would have to be imported from more 
southern localities every season, as the seed hardly reaches beyond the milk stage before 
frost may be expected. 

METHODS FOR MAKING SIRUP. 

Several different methods for making sirup were used. The lightest colored sirup will 
be produced when the juice is nearly boiled down and skimmed without defecation. 
The acids which in that case remain free in the sirup change large quantities of the cane 
sugar to glucose and impart the ' ' sorghum taste ' ' to the sirup. In order to make a 
sirup free from this taste the juice must be defecated. The defecation should be con- 
ducted in the same manner as that described under sugar making. If too much lime is 
added a dark sirup will be the result. If the lime is added very carefully, so as to make 
the juice very nearly neutral,- an excellent sirup -will be produced. The following rule 
for deTecating juice for sirup works well: Fill the defecator three-fourths full with fresh 
juice; heat to about 160° F., and add milk of lime perfectly freed from coarse particles, 
until the juice becomes slightly alkaline. Fill the defecator with fresh juice, mix well 
and heat to boiling, skim and boil down to a sirup. The defecation may also be carried 
out as described under sugar making, a quantity of sulphurous acid being added to the 
defecated juice until it becomes slightly acid. If properly conducted this process will 
always make a good sirup. It is probably to be preferred to any other, as it is very 
easily performed. Not much care is requisite, as any small excess of sulphurous acid 
which has been added will escape with the steam during the boiling down of the juice. 
Sulphate of aluminum may be used instead of sulphurous acid with equally good re- 
sults, but more care is necessary, since any excess that is added will remain in the sirup. 
The flavor of the sirup will depend to a very great extent on the quantity of lime used 
for defecation, and the quantity to be added must be ascertained' by practice. If the 
maker finds that the sirup still retains some of the ' ' sorghum taste " it is a proof that 
too little lime has been used, and a stronger defecation should be made. If, on the 
other hand, the sirup is very dark, too much lime has been added. 

CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION. 



According to the late Commissioner of Agriculture a total of 2, 000, 000, 000 pounds of 
sugar was consumed in the United States during the year 1879. "Of this amount 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 87 

1,743,560,000, or more than 80 per cent., besides 38,395,575 gallons of molasses, were 
imported. The whole valued at $114,516,745." He says further: " To bring the vast 
amount of sugar imported into this country within more easy comprehension, we have 
only to imagine five vessels of nearly 500 tons each and loaded with sugar, arriving at 
our ports each day in the year. ' ' The question, therefore, can sugar be profitably man- 
ufactured from northern sugar cane, is one of immense importance to this country. 
That there is much prejudice to be overcome is evident. There are men to whom the 
bare idea seems ridiculous. In the face of these difficulties, however, we venture to 
state that if skillfully conducted, the manufacture of sugar from this cane will certainly 
pay. Assuming the sugar to be worth 8 cents per pound, and the molasses 30 cents per 
gallon, we have the value of the produce per acre as follows: 

Yield at the rate of plot A : 

923 pounds of sugar at 8 cents $73 84 

103 gallons of sirup at 30 cents 30 90 

Total 104 74 

Yield at the rate of plot B: 

997} pounds of sugar at 8 cents $79 80 

87 gallons of sirup at 30 cents 26 10 

Total 105 90 

The seed has a composition about the same as corn, and will undoubtedly constitute 
a good food for farm animals. The utilization of the by-products will constitute an- 
other source of income. The first scums, being very rich in nitrogen and mineral salts, 
will make an excellent fertilizer, and from the last scums, being rich in sugar, a good 
vinegar may be manufactured. Taking also into consideration that my experiments 
were conducted on a small and consequently a wasteful scale, my results are undoubt- 
edly too low. If the capital is sufficient to produce both refined sugar and sirup, the 
value of the products will be increased by at least one-third. 

COST OF PRODUCTION". 

The cost of production is of course the main consideration, and although I cannot as 
yet give any definite figures, I am confident that after paying all costs a good profit 
may be realized. The best plan for conducting this industry will be to have large cen- 
tral factories. Daring the working season these factories can work up a large quantity 
of cane grown in their vicinity, and during the remainder of the year the crude produce 
from smaller establishments may be worked up and refined. 

SUCRATE OF LIME PROCESS. 

The sucrate of lime process now in full operation in Europe seems to be eminently 
fitted for carrying out this plan. A very brief outline of the process will perhaps not 
be out of place here. Sucrate of lime is a solid, containing when dry about 70 per cent, 
of sugar, and having the appearance of sand. It is insoluble in cold water, but soluble 
in hot water, and also in solutions of sugar, not too concentrated. It is entirely unfer- 
mentable, and will not become mouldy or undergo decomposition, if kept for an indefi- 
nite length of time. It is therefore an excellent material forshipping and storing. Su- 
crate of lime may be manufactured on the farm with a comparatively small outlay. The 
juice is defecated as usual, and boiled down from 30° to 32° B. The sirup is then cooled 
and transferred to the sucration vessel. This vessel is usually made of galvanized sheet 
iron. In the center is a vertical shaft, carrying paddles. A certain quantity of pure 
and finely pulverized lime is then added, which becomes thoroughly mixed with the 
sirup by the motion of the paddles. The lime and sugar quickly combine, forming the 
sucrate of lime, which, when washed with cold water and dried, is ready for shipment 
to the refinery, where the sugar is separated from the lime and refined. This is, very 
briefly told, the process which we believe can be successfully applied to the manufact- 
ure of sugar from the sorghum cane. We trust that by another year, if these experi- 
ments are allowed to continue, some practical results in connection with this and the 
diffusion process may be brought out. It would have been very desirable to have made 
some experiments with these processes during the past season, but our time was entirely 
taken up by the work which has been done. Moreover, the limited amount of means 
at hand would not warrant the construction of the special machinery necessary for con- 
ducting these processes. 



88 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

PRODUCTION OF SULPHUROUS ACID. 

Considerable quantities of sulphurous acid are needed in making sirup, and much ex- 
pense may be saved by making it at the factory. When sulphur is burnt in the air, 
each part of sulphur unites with two parts of oxygen from the atmosphere, forming a 
gas called sulphur dioxide. This gas is readily soluble in water. 

When water has a temperature of 50° F. , it will absorb 50 volumes, or one gallon of 
water will absorb 50 gallons of the gas. As the temperature of the water rises, it be- 
comes less capable of absorbing the gas, so that at 70° F. it will absorb only 34 volumes. 
The solution of this gas in water constitutes sulphurous acid. Hence to prepare it, all 
that is necessary is to cause the fumes of burning sulphur to come into contact with 
water. 

The easiest way for persons using steam-power to make this acid is to draw the fumes 
of burning sulphur from the furnace by a common gas pump and force them through a 
pipe reaching to the bottom of a barrel filled with water. The bubbles of gas escaping 
through the lower end of the pipe will be absorbed by the water in ascending. It is 
best to bend the pipe so that its lower end may lie along the bottom of the barrel. The 
open end should be closed, and the part lying on the bottom should be pierced with 
small holes so as to make a large number of small bubbles, instead of a few large ones, 
the gas being absorbed in this manner more rapidly. In this way a barrel of sulphur- 
ous acid may be made at a cost of from 75 cents to 80 cents. Any further information 
may be obtained on this subject by writing. 

Below will be found the analysis of several bundles of cane, which I received from 
different parts of the State. Many bundles. arrived without any labels, having lost them 
during transportation. Such samples were not analyzed, as it was impossible to tell 
whence they had been sent. If parties who have sent cane are not represented in the 
following table, it is because I haVe received no information in regard to the cane sent, 
or else the cane has been without labels, making it impossible for me to tell where it 
belonged 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



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90 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

It is hardly possible to draw any definite conclusions from the above analyses, as many 
samples were not received for several weeks after being cut. It will be seen, however, 
that nearly all those samples which were analyzed within but a few days after being cut 
contain a large proportion of cane sugar, while those which were analyzed after a longer 
period of time show a high content of glucose and a low proportion of cane sugar. This 
corroborates my statement in the first part of this report, and shows the necessity of 
working up the cane directly from the field in order to get the best results. 

It will also be seen that all the samples conspicuous for their high content of cane 
sugar are raised on a light soil, usually sandy loam, while those raised on heavy clay 
land contain large proportions of glucose. It therefore appears that in order to obtain a 
maximum content of cane sugar the cane should be grown on a light soil. For making 
sirup alone, the cane raised on clayey land will do about as well, as the high content of 
glucose will not materially affect the quality of the sirup. 

Vaeieties of Cane grown foe Expeeiments. 

By Prof. W. A. Heney. 

Amber cane was grown from seed obtained from Charles Eustis, Fort Atkinson, Wis. , 
and Seth Kinney, Morristown, Minn. From Mr. Kinney were also several packages of 
seed of Early Amber grown under different conditions. From J. A. Hedges, Saint 
Louis, Mo. , Kansas Orange, Hedges' Early Orange, Early Orange and Honduras. Also 
Early Orange from Illinois Industrial University, Champaign, 111. , through Prof. M. A. 
Scoville. 

All these varieties and sub-varieties showed peculiarities worthy of attention, but it is 
useless to report from one season only. 

The experiments this year all centered about the question of how much sugar and 
sirup could be obtained from the cane, and in this Mr. Swenson's attention was so ab- 
sorbed that the relative merits of each of the varieties could not be investigated. 

A thick or thin stand of cane evidently makes a great difference in the quality of the 
juice, and a fair test of varieties can only be made when each has been planted in vari- 
ous ways as to width of rows, distance apart of hills and number of stalks in the hill. 

There is no doubt but that varieties vary in value, and it is important that the pecul- 
iarities of each be known, yet it is a more difficult task to find this out than with most 
farm crops. If the experiments are continued next seasan, this will be one of the prob- 
lems to work upon. 

AMOUNT OF SIEUP PEODUCED PEE ACEE. 

As might be expected, the reports show a wide variation in the amount of sirup which 
is obtained from an acre of ground. Not only does the difference follow from variations 
in quantity and quality of cane produced, but also from varying densities to which the 
sirup is reduced. Some manufacturers make a much thicker sirup than others. The 
reported yields, therefore, show only in an imperfect way what can be obtained; still 
they are of value, I think, to those looking up the subject. 

S. Hanson, of Whitewater, one of the oldest and most experienced growers in the State, 
reports 18 gallons from 10 rods of ground and 200 gallons per acre from larger pieces. 

Joseph H. Osborn, Oshkosh, reports the highest yield, 226 gallons, with an average 
of 150. 

N. D. Comstock, Arcadia, Trempealeau County, estimates the average at 125 gallons. 

Maxon and Almony, Milton Junction, Rock County, estimate the average at 150 gal- 
lons. 

J. H. Rhodes, Sextonville, Richland County, raised on 1 acre 170 gallons. 

O. S. Powell, of River Falls, Pierce County, estimates the average crop at 100 gallons. 

H. T. Webster, Keene, Portage County, obtained 40 gallons from 28 rods of ground. 

J. D. Sherwood, Dartford, Green Lake County, reports one third of an acre yielding 
12,588 pounds of stalks, from which 79.14 gallons of sirup were made. 

A. J. Decker, Fond du Lac, considers 125 gallons the average. 

Mr. S. Nason, of Nasonville, Wood County, where cane was grown this season for the 
first time, reports 800 gallons from 4 acres. 

Evan Erickson, Stevenstown, La Crosse County, obtained 1,050 gallons from 5 acres. 

The average yield of sirup on good ground in a favorable season may be set down at 
about 160 gallons. With such culture as is usually given to it the yield will be about 
100. It may be set down as a fact that wherever it has been planted in the State it has 
succeeded, no matter how poor the soil was. It promises to be one of the very best crops 
for our sandy lands, fox though the yield per acre will not be large, the sirup will be of 
fine quality. Land on the experimental farm which produced 50 bushels of corn per 
acre this year gave 200 gallons of thick sirup. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 91 

TONS OF CASTE PRODUCED PEE ACRE. 

This season several of the large manufacturers have purchased cane hy the ton, the 
price paid usually being $2.50 per ton for stripped and topped cane delivered at the mill. 
This makes it important to ascertain the number of tons produced per acre. 

I take the following yields from the same source as before: 

N. D. Comstock, Arcadia, Trempealeau County, grew fifteen tons, yield 171 gallons, 
on one acre. 

George Grant, Janes ville, reports one instance of 11 tons, grown on an acre, produc- 
ing 14 gallons of sirup per ton, each gallon weighing 11} pounds. A. C. Kent, Janes- 
ville, puts the average product for the year at 10 tons per acre. The average may be 
safely stated at from 10 to 12 tons per acre, according to the soil and season, I think. 
Should the industry grow in importance, purchasing cane by weight from the 
grower will become a very common practice, and if we may judge from the difficulties 
arising between beet growers and sugar manufacturers in France, it is easy to see that 
no small amount of trouble will occur with us. 

To purchase cane simply by weight, without regard to its character, will be alike 
ruinous to manufacturer and grower. In some way the quality of the juice must be 
considered. For sirup making, a densimeter, as the Baume scale, will do fairly well in 
helping determine the true value of cane. In the standard ton of cane the stalks 
should be straight, with leaves and top removed, all small canes and suckers being left 
out. The juice should have a certain density, as shown by the Baum6 scale. 

The price for such cane could be agreed upon by growers and manufacturers before 
planting time. At the same time the price of cane which falls below this standard or 
rises above it can also be arranged. 

Those who are contemplating this business on a large scale cannot turn their attention 
to this part of the industry any too soon, for our farmers are too independent of any one 
crop to attempt raising Amber cane for sirup boilers who are so careless that they will 
not pay for what they get according to its true value. Great care must be exercised to 
make the business a profitable one for careful growers. By purchasing according to a 
standard, the grower who plants upon sandy land, for instance, and produces a very high 
grade cane, may find the small number of tons from an acre returning a good profit, 
while a stated price per ton, without regard to quality, would drive him from the busi- 
ness. 

It may be interesting to note in this connection that in France the price is $4 for a ton 
(2,200 pounds) of beets, the juice of which has a density of 5.5° (1.055) and that for 
variation above or below this standard special contracts are usually made, though in 
general where the system has been adopted 80 cents is added to this price for each addi- 
tional degree above the standard, and subtracted for each degree below. 

CANE SEED FOE FEED. 

For several reasons the value of cane seed for feed has received little attention. Its 
importance has not yet impressed itself upon cane growers. As will be seen from Mr. 
Swenson's report, from one-fifth of an acre of ground, 6| bushels of seed, weighing 53 
pounds per bushel, were obtained, or at the rate of 32 bushels per acre. 

The average yield of oats in the vicinity of Madison this season was about 35 bushels. 

J. M. Edwards, Oak Hill, Jefferson County, reports 230 bushels of seed, weighing 58 
pounds per bushel, from 9 acres. 

I do not think the feeding value of this seed can fall below that of oats, and possibly 
it is nearly equal to corn. Experiments will be tried upon the farm this winter to learn 
its value by practical tests. 

There is no difficulty in saving the seed, as the heads can lie upon the ground a long 
time unless there is an excessive amount of rain. The heads can be drawn and spread 
on the barn floor, or, what would be better, arranged on racks in a shed like broom corn. 
Some bind the heads in bundles and stand them on end in the field like bundles of 
wheat, to dry. 

According to one test the weight of the green leaves as stripped from the cane is nearly 
one-fourth as much as the weight of the stripped cane. From this I estimate that an 
acre producing, for instance, 12 tons of stripped cane will yield 3 tons of green leaves, 
which will afford somewhere between half a ton and a ton of dried leaves per acre. 

All who have fed these dried leaves speak of them as equal to hay in value; they are 
not difficult to dry or care for, but owing to the season of the year and the great press of 
work at that tim.3 they are apt to be neglected. The unusual raiuy fall made it im- 
possible to save the leaves from our cane for experimental feeding, as had been intended . 



92 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

THE LESSONS OF THE SEASON. 

As a summary of the reports sent in by 180 manufacturers, I would state that the 
season, upon the whole, cannot be called a favorable one. Probably owing to the intense 
cold that came on in November, 1880, the vitality of cane seed was so injured that when 
planted last spring it failed in many instances to grow. This cut down the acreage very 
considerably in many localities. The fall frosts were long delayed, and in this regard the 
season was peculiarly favorable. The almost daily rains during the whole fall made 
stripping very disagreeable and the roads almost impassable, so that the cane could not 
be drawn far, and much of it spoiled in the fields. Again heavy autumn winds laid the 
cane flat and tangled it, making the expense of stripping and cutting fully double what 
it should have been. 

Mr. Swenson's analyses show that the cane sugar is mostly changed to glucose when 
the cane is blown down, though the loss is not so manifest when sirup alone is made. 
Had sugar been the object with our manufacturers this season it would have been a very 
unfavorable one. 

This year has seen the introduction of steam into quite a number of factories, by which 
means sirup can be made much cheaper than by direct heat. With such facilities defe- 
cation is easily practiced, and sirup of superior quality made. I consider the success 
attained by these steam boiling works as the most marked event of the season. Previous 
to this year no One had but a few hundred dollars invested in the business. There 
seemed to be no chance for capital to take hold of it as long as direct heat was used, but 
with the introduction of steam apparatus capital can be invested with profit to the 
owner and advancement to the business. With so many large manufacturers in the field 
Amber sirup must go into the market in considerable quantities, and this, with the high 
quality of the goods, will soon command public attention. It is the introduction of these 
large factories that we must expect and encourage, if this is to become one of the great 
industries of the State. 

One of the plainest lessons of the season is the importance of growing cane close to 
where it is worked up. A wagon load of the stripped stalks at the crusher is not worth 
over $5. 

It at once becomes evident that such weighty material cannot be drawn long distances 
with any profit, and that the sirup works must be located near the fields where the cane 
is grown. Cane to be profitable should not be grown over two miles from the works, 
unless the roads are excellent, when possibly three may be set as the limit. Those who 
are locating mills should aim to settle at points where the cane fields can be about them 
on all sides. Fuel need not be considered, for the bagasse is sufficient when properly 
managed to supply all the heat needed. The transportation of the sirup requires that 
the works be near a railroad station. 

Another fact of the utmost importance has been made plain this season, that is, 
defecation of the juice by some method is essential. The prejudice against the sirup be- 
cause of its acid or " sorghum taste" keeps the market price down below What it should 
be, and then buyers will only take it at a low price or not at all. If they must pay sirup 
prices, they prefer New Orleans. 

Even the sirup shipped is not sold to the consumer direct, but is first mixed with glu- 
cose to remove the strong taste, or rather to favor the glucose. 

The only way to overcome this prejudice is to make a sirup with the sorghum taste 
left out. The experiments on the farm and by others show this to be possible, and that 
the methods are, upon the whole, very simple. I am aware that quite a prejudice exists 
among boilers against any clarification of the juice. Some even argue that people refuse 
to purchase Amber cane sirup, not because of its sorghum taste, but because it is a home 
product. They forget that maple sirup, a home product, brings three times the price ot 
the New Orleans. 

Our boilers here exerted every effort toward making alight, colored sirup, and because 
lime darkens it they are afraid to use lime. If every boiler would use lime cautiously 
next season, letting color be considered after flavor, there would be more real advance- 
ment in the industry than ten years of present methods of attempted improvement 
will bring. At present less than 10 per cent, of the boilers use lime or practice defeca- 
tion of any kind. 

CAN THE FABMEE MAKE HIS OWN SUGAE? 

This is a question naturally asked by many who have not studied the problem to any 
extent. 

Most certainly not, if profit is to be considered. A farmer might have a mill and 
make his own patent process flour, but it would not pay him. His business is rather to 
grow the wheat, while skilled men attend to the milling. 

While first class Amber sirup can be made by proper means with a small investment 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 93 

and a fair amount of skill, sugar making must be left to skilled men under the direction 
of a chemist or expert. Such experts must be trained to work with northern cane, and 
not brought from southern localities where the conditions are very different. Such per- 
sons though experts at home would only be students, for a time at least, at the north. 
In order to manufacture sugar there must be quite a large investment of capital in 
machinery; to manage this there must be skilled men, and over all must be a man who 
by chemical tests reads the varying conditions of the iuice as it runs from the crusher 
from day to day, and whose work is law with all other employes. Until there are such 
experts capital should be most cautious. Fine sugar works with costly machinery will 
not alone bring sugar, as the many past failures show. It would be far better for all 
concerned to wait ten years before another step is taken in this promising industry than 
to have it blighted in the start by failures. With capital carefully invested in proper 
machinery, the works located in the midst of cane fields, and run by good workmen and 
a skilled chemist, there is no doubt but money can be made as rapidly as in any manu- 
facturing business. When success comes, the farmer will sell his cane at the sugar works 
as he does his wheat at the mill, but he will not be a sugar boiler and farmer combined. 

EXPERIMENT WITH FERTILIZERS. 

In order to ascertain the value of fertilizers in the production of sirup, an experiment 
was planned a year ago, in which the co-operation of our Wisconsin farmers was solicited. 
Over forty farmers agreed to carry out a simple experiment as I directed. The following 
are the directions which were sent to each in April last: 

DIRECTIONS FOR THE EXPERIMENT. 

Select in the field where cane is to be planted three plots of ground, each containing 
not less than ten square rods and lying side by side. The ground should be as uniform 
as possible in its composition and fertility. Do not select soil where one end of the plot 
is sand and the other loam or clay. No matter which it is, but have it all one character. 
Have the plots, if possible, long and narrow, say one rod by ten, or two by twenty, etc. 
Th3 plots should lie side by side and should not be separated from one another or the 
rest of the field. One plot, No. 1, plow in well rotted stable manure at the rate of six- 
teen large loads per acre— one load for every ten rods. Plot No. 2, which is to be the 
middle plot, has no manure of any kind upon it. When the cane on plot No. 3 is three 
or four inches high apply plaster to the hills or rows to the amount of 1G0 pounds per 
acre, or 10 pounds for ever} 7- ten rods. The cane is to be planted and cultivated in the 
same manner as the rest of the field. If possible, weigh the cane of each plot separately 
when ready for the mill. Boil the juice to a sirup weighing 11 o pounds per gallon, and 
determine accurately the yield of each plot. Save a sample of sirup from each plot for 
comparison. 

Report to the department upon the following points: 

1. Amount of ground in each plot. 

2. Character of soil — clay, loam, sand, etc. 

3. Is soil naturally rich or poor? 

4. Number of years the field has been in cultivation. 

5. Crops grown on field previous year. 

6. Whether or not the field was manured the previous year. 

7. Method of planting cane — in drills or hills. 

8. Time of planting. 
"9. Time of ripening. 

10. When manufactured. 

11. Yield of sirup from each plot. 

12. Character of sirup from each plot as to color, clearness, and flavor. 

But one of all who agreed to undertake the experiment carried it through successfully. 
Mr. S. B. Chatfleld, of Adams, Walworth County, makes the following report: 

Adams, January 2, 1882. 

Dear Sir: I have been so very busy that I have neglected to send samples until to- 
day. I express them as you requested. I will answer those questions to the best of my 
ability: 

No. 1. One rod wide, 10 rods long. 

No. 2. Black sandy loam. 

No. 3. Naturally rich. 

No. 4. Under cultivation 33 years. 

No. 5. Sugar-cane. 



94 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



No. 


6. 


No. 


7. 


No. 


8. 


No. 


9. 


No. 


10. 


No. 


11. 


No. 


12. 



Not manured the previous year. 
In drills. 

Planted 19th of May. 
Ripe from 12th to 15th of September. 
Manufactured September 28. 

No. 1, 17 gallons; No. 2, 10 gallons; No. 3, 14 gallons. 
The three samples must speak for themselves. 
Mr. W. A. Henry. 

The samples were indeed interesting. That from unmanured soil was light-colored, 
and sugar crystals in considerable numbers and of fair size formed in it. The sirup from 
the manured plot was the darkest. Other qualities, marked in their way, I am very 
sorry I cannot report on, as Mr. Chatfield's samples were put oiv exhibition at the State 
cane-growers' convention, and two of the bottles were carried off by some visitor. 

It is unfortunate that more had not been as persistent as Mr. Chatfield, for untold 
good would flow from united work in this way. ' 

If there are any of our farmers who are willing to try such an experiment again, I 
shall be pleased to have their names and will forward directions in due time. 

The importance of united work will appear plain to all who have grown cane to any 
extent. 

List of Sirup Manufacturers in Wisconsin. 

The following is a list of all manufacturers whose names I have been able to obtain, 
together with address and amount of sirup made by each during the fall of 1881. 
For convenience of reference, they are arranged alphabetically by counties: 




George Cochran 

Edwin Blood 

John B. Sweet 

C. C. Carr 

L. K. Goodall . 

Charles W. Peters... 

Cyrus Root 

L. S. Wright 

I. B. Hayden 

Samuel A. Clark 

W. J. Lankford 

C. R. Rounds 

A. H. Anderson 

J. H. Greening 

Henry Linley 

W. M. Sprague 

B. F. Williamson .... 
R. L. Clason 

C. J. Davis 

Charles Link 

Joseph Philips 

W. H. Clyde 

W. H. Doane 

H. J. Myers 

F. M. Steves 

W. W. Waterbury... 
George W. Jones .... 

J. W. Bailey 

A. J. Decker 

C. J. Gordon 

George Jenkinson ... 
M. M. Alexander.... 

C. D. Barnes 

Francis A. Markert 

Lewis Glass 

C. S. Ruddock 



Gihnanton , 

Stockbridge 

Chilton 

Poynette 

Lodi 

Columbus 

Otsego 

Fall River , 

Freeman 

Prairie du Chien 

Ferryville 

Mount Sterling... 

Black Earth 

Mazoinanie 

Mazomanie 

Lake View ;.. 

Madison 

Beaver Dam 

Beaver Dam 

Danville 

Randolf 

Rock Falls , 

Fall City 

Elk Mound 

Louisville 

Augusta 

Fairchild 

Ripon , 

Fond du Lac 

Oakfield 

Brandon , 

Montfort 

Brodtville 

Lancaster 

Wyalusing 

Berlin 



G. W. Sheldon Markesan 



J. D. Sherwood 

Aug. Ziemer 

Peter Crook 

J. P. Beard 

F. W. Board 

E. G. Dodge 

Biley Moulton . 



Dartford 

Berlin 

Dodgeville... 

Elroy 

Elroy 

Mauston 

New LiBbon. 



Buffalo 

Calumet 

Calumet 

Columbia 

Columbia 

Columbia 

Columbia 

Columbia 

Crawford 

Crawford 

Crawford ..... 

Crawford 

Dane 

Dane 

Dane 

Dane 

Dane 

Dodge 

Dodge 

Dodge 

Dodge 

Dunn 

Dunn 

Dunn 

Dunn 

Eau Claire ... 
Eau Claire.... 
Fond du Lac 
Fond du Lac 
Fond du Lac 
Fond du Lac 

Grant 

Grant 

Grant 

Grant 

Green Lake.. 
Green Lake.. 
Green Lake.. 
Green Lake.. 

Iowa 

Juneau 

Juneau 

Juneau 

Juneau 



1,350 
7,700 

900 
1,700 

320 

863 
1,000 
2,000 
1,000 
1,000 

800 
1,000 
1,200 
2,002 
1,200 

300 
1.350 
2,200 

853 
1,800 
1,400 
2,000 

800 
1,878 
4,100 
2,600 

800 

3,000 

10,000 

5,800 

2,500 

550 
1,530 

125 

105 
1,500 
3,700 
4,877 
1,830 

900 

650 

800 
2,400 
1,500 



SOEGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



95 




D. Travis 

A. L. White 

Wm. Goudre 

P. W. & C. S. Cartwright 
F. E. Chartier 

E. Colwell 

J. M. Edwards 

John Moore 

R. S. Pearsall 

L. B. Green 

Frank C. Lehman 

Williams <fc Colwell 

Williams & Dow 

W. H. Peardon 

William Jaudre 

Smith Hoyt 

Geo. B. Allen 

H. C. Davis 

B. C. Henry , 

L. W. Thayer : 

James F. Petrie 

Evftn Erickson 

Nels Hanson 

N. D. Loomis 

T. O. Masher 

Hollister Phillips 

Henry Rhode 

H. H. Slye 

Frank Pfaff 

Riley T. Scott 

Vincent Bruner 

Richard Graham 

G.A.Scott 

T.Wells 

L. Baring 

Casper Eberdt , 

W.G.West 

M.Shidle 

Samuel Thompson 

W.H.Tilton 

J. McLean 

L. E.Buck 

W. M. Burroughs 

Silas D.Clark 

Nicholas Piper , 

Albert Taylor 

Reuben Thompson 

H.T.Webster 

Alex. G. Coffin 

A.H.Cott 

D.W.Phelps 

S. L. Plurnmer .-., 

Hiram B.Stone 

T. J. Atwater 

O.S.Powell 

L. L. Richardson 

Conrad Weghorn 

Charles N.'Soule 

Thos. McFarland 

Nims <fc Voorhees 

A.A.Cowey 

John J. Dillon 

R.W.Peters 

J.H.Rhodes 

N. G. Sorram 

Thos. S. Palmer 

Buob <fc Russell 

Conrad & Dibble 

George Grant 

A.C.Kent 

M.M.Tullar 

W. J. Mclntyre 

Maxon & Almony 

Bauernfeind «fe Alletzan 

M. J.Adams 

L.T.Allbe 

Isaac W. Carpenter 

C.H.Dome 

G.F.Faller 



. Wonewoc 

. Mauston 

. Milford 

. Rome ....; I 

. Rome i 

. Farmington • 

. Oak Hill ! 

J Rome ! 

.1 Waterloo ! 

. Hebron j 

. Watertown j 

. Farmington 

. Palmyra ' 

.J Palmyra I 

. Palmyra 

. Milford 

. Milford ! 

. ; Irving ! 

. Pine Hill ; 

. Kenosha j 

. Kenosha I 

. Stevenstown I 

.! Rockland 

.' West Salem j 

. Bangor : 

. Mindora 

. Barre Mills ; 

.; Mindora \ 

. Burr Oak ■ 

.1 Yellowstone i 

. Blanchardville | 

. Jeddo ' 

.1 Westfield j 

. Neshkora i 

.1 Oil City 

.1 Tomah j 

Sparta .• I 

Sparta i 

Osceola Mills \ 

Osceola Mills 

Saint Croix Falls 

Sherman 

Almond 

Plover 

Almond 

Blaine 

,| Amherst 

, ; Keene 

. Durand 

. Jeddo 

j Durand 

. Arkansaw 

. Durand, 

. Prescott 

.i River Falls 

. Clifton Mills 

.! Ellsworth 

.1 Rochester 

.1 Waterford 

.1 Burlington 

. Port Andrew 

.1 Basswood 

Basswood 

Sextonville 

Basswood 

Eagle Corners 

Janesville 

Evansville 

Janesville 

Janesville 

Evansville 

Whitewater 

Milton Junction , 

Glenbeulah 

Baraboo 

North Freedom 

White Mound 

Baraboo 

Baraboo 



Juneau 

Juneau 

Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 
Jefferson .... 

Jackson 

Jackson 

Kenosha 

Kenosha 

La Crosse . . . 
La Crosse .... 
La Crosse . . . 
La Crosse ... 
La Crosse ... 
La Crosse ... 
La Crosse ... 
La Crosse ... 
La Fayette. 
La Fayette. 
Marquette . 
Marquette . 
Marquette .. 

Monroe 

Monroe 

Monroe 

Monroe 

Polk 

Polk 

Polk 

Portage 

Portage 

Portage 

Portage 

Portage 

Portage 

Portage 

Pepin 

Pepin 

Pepin , 

Pepin 

Pepin , 

Pierce 

Pierce 

Pierce 

Pierce 

Racine 

Racine 

Racine 

Richland.... 
Richland.... 
Richland.... 
Richland.... 
Richland.... 
Richland.... 

Rock 

Rock 

Rock 

Rock 

Rock 

Rock 

Rock 

Sheboygan. 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk. 

Sauk 



662 
2,800 

900 
2,500 
5,000 
2,500 
4,200 
4,200 
2,000 
1,600 
2,800. 
8,000 

900 
2,000 
1,000 
2,300 

100 
1,700 
1,959 
1,564 

400 
1,800 

600 
3,500 

000 

600 
1,000 
2,025 
1,165 
1,465 

550 
1,876 
2,700 
1,700 

666 
1,800 
1,675 
2,000 
3,209 
1,084 

919 
1,000 
2.500 
2,130 
2,576 
2,630 
2,353 
1,500 
1,969 
1,700 

900 
3.400 
1,950 
2,000 
10,500 
2,000 
2.100 

400 
1,200 
1,600 
1,600 
1,000 
1,942 

260 

500 

400 
2,390 
2,000 
2,100 
9,000 

630 
2,500 
6,000 
4,000 
1,500 
1,550 
1,000 
1,140 
1,100 



96 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Name. 



Post-office. 



CHenneberg 

J. T. Huntington 

W.Jefry 

W.H.Koukel 

J.W.Shourds 

C.R. Thaver 

R.F.Cole 

J.B.Filbian 

Foster & Nye 

F. W. Hitchings 

J.M.Nash 

E. G. Partridge 

N. D. Comstock 

B. Dissmore 

A.F.Heusel 

A.H.Rogers 

D.S.Watson 

H. H. Morgan 

L.F.Day 

W. Frazier 

E.B.Hyde 

M. K. Jefferies 

C. Bloetnan 

S. H. Helnier 

S. S. Nason 

Henry Hull 

A.G.Lull 

Whitemarsh & Edwards. 

Joseph H. Osborn 

W. M. Davies 

Charles 0. Dill 

D. A. O. McGowan 

Wm. Scobie 

H. C. Van Airsdale 

W. M. Ware 

Wilfred Lane 

M. D.Morrison 

Romeo Sprague 

Edward P. -Hinklev 

S. B. Chatfield 

T. M. Cook 

S. Hanson 

Chas. E. Horton , 

J. Patchin 

Pliny Potter 

T. M. Shoudy 

Ambrose Warner 

Richard Chambers 

John Clark 

W. E. Clark 

R. J.Folks 

E. G. Furlong 

T. S. Neyward 

Sumner Packard , 

Alvin Pope 

J. Rode 

Milton Stanley 



Total. 



LaValle 

Delton 

Baraboo 

Baraboo 

Reedsburg 

Baraboo 

Reedsburg 

Hammond 

New Richmond... 
N. Wis. Junction. 

Hudson 

Warren 

Arcadia 

Whitehall 

Arcadia 

Osseo 

Whitehall 

Red Mound 

Retreat 

Enterprise 

Retreat 

Hillsboro 

Red Mound 

Hartford 

Nasonville 

Pmreka 

Oshkosh 

Oshkosh 

Oshkosh 

Wild Rose 

Oasis 

Hamilton's Mills.. 

Spring Lake 

Saxville 

Hancock 

Wild Rose 

Eagle 

Eagle 

Eagle 

Adams 

Little Prairie........ 

AVhite water 

Whitewater 

Heart Prairie 

Little Prairie 

Geneva 

Whitewater 

Weyau wega 

Waupaca 

Bear Creek 

Waupaca 

Rural 

Rural 

Crystal Lake 

Lind 

Ogde nsb urg 

Manawa 



County. 



Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk : 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Saint Croix ... 

Saint Croix ... 

Saint Croix ... 

Saint Croix ... 

Saint Croix . . . 

Trempealeau 

Trempealeau 

Trempealeau 

Trempealeau 

Trempealeau 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Washington .. 

Wood 

Winnebago .... 

Winnebago .... 
Winnebago ... 

Winnebago 

Waushara 

Waushara 

Waushara , 

Waushara 

Waushara 

Waushara 

Waushara 

Waukesha 

Waukesha 

Waukesha 

Walworth 

Walworth 

Walworth 

Walworth 

Walworth 

Walworth 

Walworth 

Walworth 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 



ft . 

3 !-« 



en-'* 

a o> 

0T3 



o 



2,300 
3,200 
700 
1,556 
1,100 
1,410 
1,460 
3,000 
3,500 
1,400 
5,000 
3,200 
2,000 
2,050 
450 
1,765 
2,800 
3,600 
1,200 
2,300 
900 
225 
1,780 
600 
1,500 
1,743 
600 
2,000 
3,500 
1,150 
1,000 
516 
1,600 
1,000 
777 
500 
800 
1,000 
750 
1,606 
1,150 
2,000 
100 
1,100 
250 
400 
2, 300 
550 
2,000 
900 
2,300 
2,000 
1,800 
1,000 
3,000 
400 
1,500 

340, 610 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

The following names have been received since tabulating the above: 



97 



Names. 



S-Jas Hammond 

M P. Hammond 

D.' McDonald 

Cyrus G. Patton, 

Gustav Yiss 

John R. Koth 

Charles E. Bowerman 

James F. Brown 

J. E. Arnold 

R. Grant 

L. F. Crandall 

Wm. Gaven , 

Otto Anumdson 

James Sykes 

John C. O'Bleness 

A. J. Cunningham 

Travers & Snyder 

Bennett A Mecum 

OleO. Lamb 

Alex. Cauce 

R. F. Gale 

Charles Fuchs 

Jacob Mann 

Ole Kanteson 

William Stevenson 

George C. Clark 

W. W. Minor 

Joseph Morgan 

S. M. Monaker 

Warren C. Bates 

A. H.Bates 

Lester N. Porter 



Post-office. 



Strong's Prairie 

Strong's Prairie 

Verona 

Augusta 

Otto Creek 

Platteville 

Patch Grove | Grant.... 

Mineral Point Iowa 

Melrose | Jackson 



County. 



Adams 

Adams 

Dane 

Eau Claire. 
Eau Claire. 
Grant 



Neeedah 

North Bend 

Mindora 

Stevenstown 

Stevenstown 

Jeddo 

Woodstock 

Woodstock 

Richland Center. 

Glasgow 

Ettrick 

Reedsburg 

Spring Green 

Spring Green 

Spring Green 

DeSoto 

Victory 

Retreat 

Retreat 

Liberty Pole 

Retreat 

Retreat 

Wautoma 



Juneau 

Jackson 

La Crosse 

La Cro3se 

La Crosse 

Marquette 

Richland 

Richland 

Richland 

Trempealeau. 
Trempealeau. 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk* 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Waushara 






3 08 

cj a 



330 

900 

8G0 
1,300 
1,400 
1,000 

718 
1,100 

800 

618? 
3,470 
2,700 
1,000 
1,100 
1,100 

900 
1,500 

800 
2,300 
2,000 
1,460 
2,800 

500 

500 
2,939 
1,400 
2,100 
1,800 
2,000 . 

750 
1,400 
1,572 



Correspondence. 

From among a large number of letters upon the subject, I select the following, which 
will, I am certain, be read with interest: 



[From A. J. Decker, Esq , Fond du Lac, Wis.] 

Fond du Lac, Wis., December 17, 1881. 

Dear Sir : Another season has passed, and another harvest has been gathered with 
its lessons of success or failure. That should teach us in future years how to attain suc- 
cess and avert the chances of failure. 

Though the past season has been the poorest in many years for growing Amber cane, 
and its manufacture into sirup and sugar, yet I think we have advanced very materially. 

The late cold, wet spring greatly retarded planting, and fully one-third of the amount 
planted came up so poorly that it was plowed up and other crops planted. This was the 
case mostly with farmers who had little or no experience in raising cane, and mistook 
it for pigeon grass, or thought it looked too small to ever pay for the taking care of it, 
while farmers understanding it better cultivated it carefully and were paid with good 
crops. The fall has been very bad for the manufacture of sirup. The grinding season 
commenced about September 15, and by the 25th it commenced raining and rained al- 
most every day for six weeks, until the country was flooded and roads impassable, some 
farmers feeding their cane to their cattle, a few of them storing it in their barns, hoping 
for better weather to haul it to the mill; and after I had finished the cane at the mill 
and had been shut down nearly a month, I started up to accommodate those farmers and 
to determine the amount and quality of sirup that could be made from cane kept so long 
after being cut, which was seven weeks. The result was a fine, light sirup, and about 
three-fourths of a full crop. Out of this lot was one-half acre from which I made 95} 
gallons of sirup, for which the owner was offered 60 cents per gallon at the mill, which 
speaks well for its quality. 

From the unfavorable season we have learned many valuable lessons which a favora- 
ble season would not have shown, and solving such difficult problems is taking a firm 

S. Mis. 51- 7 



98 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

step in advance towards the time when this industry, with the aid of your Department, 
is to be an established source of business and wealth to the people of the State of Wis- 
consin. 

One great drawback has been the lack of proper knowledge in the manipulation of the 
juice to obtain the best results, and people starting factories have been so anxious to get 
such information that they have been the easy prey of traveling sharks, claiming to be 
experts in the business, referring to some successful factory to which their name may be 
attached in some capacity, claiming by their skill and superior articles to have accom- 
plished such results, and offering to • sell a mill and outfit, for which they ask a fancy 
price, and will then give full instructions in their secret processes for 1 cent per gallon 
on each gallon of sirup made by them during the season. The work of your depart- 
ment will put a stop to this swindling business, and I hope the legislature will appro- 
priate such amounts as may be requisite to fully develop the cane resources and place 
Wisconsin in a position to raise her own sugar and sirup, for which she has paid over 
$8,000,000 per annum. My factory has an easy capacity of 400 gallons sirup in twenty- 
four hours. I use steam for defecating and evaporating, and the Plantation Mill made 
by the Madison Manufacturing Company, and no other State can furnish a better one. 
I would be glad to have you visit my factory in grinding season if possible. Hoping for 
your complete success in developing the sugar resources of Wisconsin, 
I am yours, truly, 

A. J. DECKER. 

Prof. W. A. Heney, Agricultural Department, University of Wisconsin. 

[From J. T. Huntington, esq., Delton, Wis.] 

Dear Sie : In reply to your request for something from me on the cane business, I 
submit the following: 

The last two seasons have undoubtedly been unfavorable for the best' results from 
Amber cane — the season of 1881 particularly as to yield in this vicinity. Notwithstand- 
ing that the season was very wet the yield of juice was generally small, but mostly of 
fine quality, my experience being that the juice of this year worked satisfactorily— much 
easier than that of last. The sirup from my works this year was, for a custom-mill 
where cane of all sorts is handled, very uniform in quality and color. We have in this 
vicinity all kinds of soil, and so far as I am able as yet to judge the very best results are 
obtained from cane grown on soil somewhat sandy, and if possible I would wish it to be 
on a clover sod. The finest flavored sirup and quickest to granulate of any made at my 
place are those from cane grown on a clover sod. Growers of cane, as a general thing, I 
think, do not do as they should to obtain the best results. Cane is too apt to be left to 
be the last thing planted and cultivated, and I have often had men tell me that they had 
only cultivated it once, and some not at all. Such cane cannot be satisfactory. 

In my opinion, cane should be planted just as early as the climate will admit, cover- 
ing just as light as possible, and cultivating as soon as the rows can be seen; and con- 
tinue the cultivation until it is waist high, and then keeping the weeds out in August 
with a hoe. 

It should be cut when a majority of the seed is ripe enough to grow, and if it cannot 
be worked at once, should be so placed that it can have plenty of air, and be covered from 
the rays of the sun or storms; so placed, it will keep well for some time. I have worked 
some that had been cut four weeks, and it was not at all soured — had, perhaps, lost a small 
portion of the juice. A matter of importance to manufacturers is a better market or 
better prices. The name generally applied is sufficient alone to make many refuse to 
purchase. At a time when ordinary New Orleans molasses is worth fifty to fifty-five 
cents in Chicago, at wholesale, forty cents is considered sufficient to pay for ' ' sorghum, ' ' 
when the fact is that the ' ' sorghum ' ' (when good as it ought to be) is the best goods to 
be had in the molasses line; and it is also a fact that large quantities of it (some not very 
good) are purchased in Chicago at very low prices, put into large tanks, and a little very 
rank New Orleans molasses added to give a New Orleans flavor, and then it is rebarreled 
and sold in the country as genuine New Orleans molasses. Probably those who will not 
buy "sorghum " direct of the maker often get it this way. There ought to be a manu- 
facturers' association to work in their interests. 
Yours trulv, 

J. T. HUNTINGTON, 

Delton, Wis. 

Prof. W. A. Heney. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 99 

[A letter from Mr. William P. Phillips, of Lake Mills, shows that all do not look upon 
this question in the same light. Mr. Phillips writes as follows:] 

Lake Mills, Wis., December 12, 1881. 

Dear Sie: Your circular of November 10, ultimo, relative to the Amber cane in- 
dustry of Wisconsin, received. I am not in any manner interested in that branch of in- 
dustry and know of no thrifty or practical farmer in this vicinity who is. Its produc- 
tion here is generally confined to a few of the smaller farms — usually those occupied by 
the poorer and most thriftless class of foreign-born immigrants — who are willing to use 
an inferior sirup of their own production, under the delusion that their time and labor 
in producing it is worth nothing. Only a few square rods are raised on each farm; and 
I apprehend if the labor in its production and manufacture was counted at its value in 
other established practical lines of agricultural business it would be found to cost many 
times the market value of much better sirup. In the present stage of development of 
the crystallizing process I am unable to appreciate the extraordinary efforts of the na- 
tional and State departments of agriculture to foster its growth, or to obtain statistics in 
regard to it. It occurs to me that there are several things connected with the agricult- 
ural interests of this country in which the national and State departments — with their 
aided facilities — might do great service to the country. 

We have established, partially developed, practical, and profitable industries that need 
the aid and benefit of the practical experiments of the departments and the protection of 
the Government. 

Take as an instance the leading agricultural industry of our State — the dairy industry. 
Base, unwholesome, disgusting adulterations of dairy products are allowed to be manu- 
factured and sold; our reputation and markets lost, or at least damaged at home and 
abroad. Millions are thereby lost to the farmers that a few unscrupulous persons, worse 
than counterfeiters, may defraud consumers out of a few thousands. Yet there has been 
no effectual law devised or passed, no effort worthy of the name been made to prevent 
or check the evil. The farmers, an unorganized class, are not capable of helping them- 
selves. The State department of agriculture, as the only organized representative and 
guardian of the agricultural interests of the State, should repeatedly urge and secure the 
legislation required in this matter. The law on this subject passed last winter (chapter 
40) accomplished nothing, as it was evidently intended it should accomplish nothing. 

Again, the science of agriculture is yet comparatively undeveloped. True, it has made 
great advances in this country during the last half century, mainly by the knowledge 
gained by the experiments of private individuals. Like all sciences, money generally 
precedes experimental demonstration. To the private citizen experimental demonstra- 
tion is often expensive or impracticable for the lack of facilities. The State department 
of agriculture should have some system of direct communication with the practical agri- 
culturists of the State, by which inquiries might be solicited and answered, and the 
necessary experiments made at the expense of the State. An agricultural newspaper 
connected with the department might answer the purpose and be at least partially self- 
sustaining. 

For instance, at the present time our stock and dairy interests require an immediate 
answer to the question of the economy and practicability of the preservation and use of 
ensilage as food for stock. We want no floating rumors picked here and there, but an 
authoritative answer based on the demonstration of reliable experiment. 

Thus indefinitely questions daily present themselves to the practical farmer, and if 
you will inaugurate a system by which they may be satisfactorily answered by the de- 
partment of agriculture you will greatly benefit the agricultural industries of the State. 
I am, very respectfully, 

WM. P. PHILLIPS, 
rof. W. A. Henry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. 

[From A. J. Russell, President Wisconsin State Cane Growers' Association.] 

Janesville, Wis., December 19, 1881. 

Dear Sir: In reply to your favor of the 8th, I would say that we have not purchased 
cane by the ton heretofore, as there was no reliable data to enable the manufacturer to 
determine the value of the different qualities of cane that was produced on different soils, 
and delivered at the mill in various conditions. 

An imperfect knowledge and no well-developed system of determining the true value 
of the canes as delivered promiscuously from a large variety of soils has resulted in very 
serious losses to several large establishments who had adopted the method of purchasing 
cane delivered at the mill at a stipulated, and generally a uniform price per ton, or by 
the acre, irrespective of the purity of the juice contained in such canes. 

There seems to be but one practical business method for a manufacturer to adopt for 
his own protection, and a greater satisfaction to the growers, and that is to purchase the 



100 SOKGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

cane by the ton. The manufacturer then has control of all the sirup and sugar, and is 
not brought into competition in the local or general market with his own patrons who 
grow the cane, many of whom have more than sufficient to supply their own and neigh- 
bors' wants, and desire to dispose of the balance they have on hand as soon as possible; 
and not being (as a general rule) familiar with the ruling prices of same class of goods 
in the wholesale and retail market, are imposed upon by dealers who are perfectly aware 
of the fact that the grower has not a sufficient amount to ship to jobbing points, and 
rather than hold it will sell it at a price to the local dealer generally below the actual 
market value, and that makes the price for manufacturers to the local trade as long as 
the grower's sirup holds out. 

We have determined in the future to purchase our cane by the ton, delivered at the 
mill, and when so delivered will test the juice in the presence of the grower, and pur- 
chase it from him, same as grain and other farm products are purchased, according to 
quality. The actual value of the cane will be determined by the quality of the juice, 
and will be worth to the manufacturer from $1.50 to $4.50 per ton, and even $5 per ton 
for extra cane, and according to the state of the sirup and sugar market and the differ- 
ent degrees of purity of the juice, and the amount of sucrose contained in the raw juice 
at the time of delivery of the cane at the rnill.^ 

Our custom has been to charge the growers 25 cents per gallon, or one-half of the sirup. 

Our works consist of a storage-room 20 by 40 feet, one story, shingle roof building, 
attached to our defecating, evaporating, and finishing building, which is 20 by 20, two 
stories high, and a shed attached for cane-mill, boiler, and engine. 

Our machinery consists of boiler, engine, mill, juice- tank, juice-pump, defecators, 
evaporators, finishing-pan, cooler, and storage tanks. 

The juice runs directly from the mill to the juice- tank, and is pumped up to the top 
floor into the defecator, and after the defecation is made it is discharged directly into the 
evaporator and rapidly reduced to a thin semi-sirup, and is then discharged into the 
finishing-pan and concentrated rapidly, if for sirup, to a commercial density and drawn 
off into the cooler, and almost immediately discharged into storage tanks sufficiently 
large to hold, each one of them, a little over a car-load. 

When enough has been made for a car-load the barrels, three of them at a time, are 
rolled under faucets and filled. In that way it does not take us long to fill enough 
barrels for a car-load. We then ship generally to a wholesale market. Thus we have 
a continuous fall from the defecator to the barrels, without any rehandling of the sirups; 
and by cooling the sirup at once, after discharging into the cooler, it prevents the sirup 
from darkening by being sirup-scorched in running a succession of batches of hot sirup 
into a tank at a high temperature of heat so long that it darkens the sirup and lessens 
its value as a commercial article. 

Our machinery is constructed and arranged to save labor and more perfectly clarify 
the juice and hasten the evaporation in the most rapid manner. Our defecators are so 
arranged and constructed that we do not have to skim the juice in them, and a simple 
attachment we have permits drawing the juice into the evaporator as clear as water. The 
knowledge of the fact gained by our own practical experience that the success of making a 
bright, glossy sugar and a light-colored, clear, transparent sirup, "without" the use of 
the expensive ' ' char-filters, ' ' depended upon a perfect defecation, and a rapid concentra- 
tion of the juice to the required density enabled us to build a style of evaporator that has 
produced the desired result, by enabling us to concentrate the juice rapidly, and at the 
same time liberate certain impurities that can be eliminated in no other manner known 
to us but by the application of heat; and when those impurities are separated and thrown 
to the surface they flow rapidly to the automatic skimmer and filter, where they are re- 
tained and forced over into the scum-trough in a comparatively dry condition, and the 
strained and filtered juice passing through the filter rapidly is returned immediately to 
the evaporator, again clear and transparent. In this manner we keep up a constant cur- 
rent, flowing on top to the automatic skimmer and filter, and another reverse current 
of the filtered juice returning by way of the bottom of the pan, to again come in contact 
with the heat and thrown to the top, separating the remaining impurities and keeping 
up a constant circulation of the juice and producing the most rapid evaporation that can 
be made, and the strainer and filter catching and retaining all the impurities of the mi- 
nutest character that have been separated from the juice, and preventing them from again 
mingling with the boiling juice and giving it a bad flavor and darker and cloudy appear- 
ance. All experts in the use of steam concede that in order to produce the most rapid 
evaporation there must be a constant circulation, and we are very much gratified with 
the manner in which our pans have operated, as they have enabled us to produce an 
article of sirup that has sold in the wholesale markets in competition with the best 
products of the country, made by either the open pan train or vacuum-pan and char-filters 
combined. 

It saves labor, and above all things we prize it on account of its perfect work skimming 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 101 

the juice, and not endangering a depreciation in the value of the sirup by being imper- 
fectly skimmed by tired and careless help; for without perfect skimming off of the im- 
purities after they have once been separated, to keep them from being reboiled into the 
sirup again, there is danger that more or less of the batches or strikes will be run into 
the storage tank in a cloudy condition, and consequently of bad flavor, and help to de- 
stroy or depreciate what good sirup there is in the tank; and if it is intended for sugar 
it will be what is called a gray sugar, having a dull, dirty appearance. It was a case of 
this kind that occurred to us when we first commenced that suggested this plan of evap- 
oration to me for our own safety and protection. 

Our finishing pan is similar to our evaporator, but smaller in dimensions. 

Our cooler works admirably, and is actually necessary in large works to cool the sirup 
immediately after finishing for commercial use or for sugar-making. 

Our whole outfit, including land, buildings, and machinery, cost about $6,000, and 
has a capacity of making from eight to twelve hundred gallons of sirup per day. The 
amount of sirup made per day depends mostly upon the strength of the juice we are 
making. 

In regard to my ideas of the future of this industry, I would say I have had no occa- 
sion to change my opinion expressed three years ago. I then made up my mind that if 
the industry was conducted on strictly business principles there was money in it for the 
farmer and the manufacturer of sirup alone, even if they should fail to produce sugar ; 
and my past experience has confirmed that belief. And your own valuable experiments 
made at the university farm this past season, with the able assistance of the department 
chemist, Mr. Swenson, will dispel the doubts that existed in the minds of many, who 
could not possibly be persuaded to believe that sugar could be produced here at home, 
grown on our own farms. 

The many central works and refineries devoted exclusively to the sorgo industry, that 
have been put in operation in many of the States, at a cost of from $5, 000 to $60, 000 
each, is evidence of the fact that the most timid and skeptical factor in the development 
of this new industry — capital — has become convinced that it is a safe investment; after 
the most careful and searching scrutiny have united with science and skill and are partly 
carrying out the idea of central works, that I have been laboring to establish in this State, 
and the fine results you have obtained in your experiments will hasten the time of its 
realization. 

'J here seems to me to be no other practical way of meeting the requirements of this 
rapidly growing business than by establishing central works — a central works located at 
some point accessible by rail from several directions, to facilitate receiving raw sirups 
from a large amount of territory, and fully equipped with all the latest improved me- 
chanical appliances that have been tested and proven to be well adapted to the manipu- 
lation of the sorgo juice, to manufacture a first-class commercial sirup, and a soft white 
and yellow sugar. The central works should have a capacity of grinding from three hun- 
dred to five hundred acres of cane annually, to insure having a sufficient amount of 
business early in the season, so as to keep the works in operation as much as possible 
during the year. The central works could have nearly or quite all of their crop worked 
up before they would be able to obtain semi-sirup from the auxiliary works, for making 
sugar and refined sirups from. The central works should be under the management of 
some one who has a practical knowledge, and is qualified to instruct operators of the 
auxiliary works how to make the semi- sirup and leave it in proper condition for the cen- 
tral works. 

Suitable buildings and machinery to work up 500 acres of cane, and rework the semi- 
syrup made by the auxiliary works, from 3,500 acres, into sugars and sirup*, taking 
eight months in the year, would cost $25,000, all fitted up ready for business. 

It is not practicable to haul the cane more than three miles to mill, and to obtain a 
sufficient amount of raw sirups for a central works of such a character requires many 
auxiliary works, large and small, operated by steam or open fire train (steam being the 
cheapest and best, and destroys less sucrose, is preferable) to make the semi-sirup, which 
an intelligent and careful operator can do successfully by working under instructions 
from a competent manager of a central works. 

To fit up a steam train so all the machinery will be properly proportioned, to insure 
the least expense in manufacturing, and produce an acceptable aiticle requires the aid 
of some one who has sufficient practical knowledge to determine, when informed of the 
number of acres designed to be worked, the size of mill required, the amount of steam- 
generating power required, beyond the motive power, to evaporate the amount of juice 
expressed by the mill in less than an hour, and the number of square feet of heating sur- 
face it takes, with a given quantity of steam under a certain pressure, to evaporate the 
juice of a minimum strength down to semi-sirup, in the required time to produce the 
best results. 

The lack of knowledge on these very essential points has been the means of causing 



102 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

some losses and discouragements to the owners of the works, and the growers of the cane 
also. 

In conclusion, I heg leave to say in behalf of many farmers who have raised the cane, 
and many more who desire to do so, that I have conversed with on this subject in many 
different parts of our State, that they hope our representatives at Madison will realize 
what great interest it will be to the farmers and to the wealth of the State for them to 
make a special appropriation sufficient to enable you and your very able assistant, Mr. 
Swenson, the department chemist, to continue the valuable experiments you have com- 
menced and that have produced such splendid results as to justify the belief that this 
new and valuable crop will be extensively raised by the farmers of this State in the near 
future. 

They feel they have a right to ask for an appropriation for their agricultural depart- 
ment to make intelligent and systematic experiments (which the farmers are unable to 
do) to determine for them the best soils, fertilizers, &c, to use in developing for them a 
crop that gives such good promise of being of so great a value to them and the whole 
State. They also feel that they are behind the times in this matter, as other States have 
realized the importance of this crop to such an extent that they not only pay a premium 
on every pound of sugar that is made from the native cane raised in the State, and ex- 
empt from taxation for live years all the machinery employed in sugar making, but to 
encourage the farmers in growing cane they pay them a premium for every ton of cane 
they produce. 

Hoping that you may be permitted to continue your experiments in this sugar ndustry 
with a sufficient amount of money at your disposal to enable you to extend your field of 
usefulness in this and any other direction that will be of benefit to our farming com- 
munity, I remain, 

Respectfully, yours, 

A. J. RUSSELL. 

Prof. W. A. Henry. 

[From J. D. Sherwood, Green Lake County.] 

Dartford. Green Lake County, Wis., December 18, 1881. 

Dear Sir: In reply to your favor of 8th ultimo, would say that I rolled 347} tons, 
averaging 7° B., allowing on the basis of 50 per cent, of juice expressed 10.} gallons to 
the ton, which basis has given about 100 gallons to the acre on clay and sandy loam 
soil. The highest yield was 6-£j&q tons, testing 8° B., from one-third of an acre, raised 
by William McConnell, of this town, being at the rate of 238 gallons per acre, and the low- 
est yield nigh about 30 gallons to the acre, juice 3° B. Commenced September 9 on the 
above yield, the seed of which was ripe, but most of the after-working was dough to 
ripe. Most of the cane was planted after other work, and then it has paid better than 
anything else; but not as well as last year, owing to the peculiar season. The cost of 
working our crop of eight acres was ten days' work fitting ground; eight days' work 
planting and cultivating; five days' work thinning out; forty-five days' work stripping 
and cutting, and then only one-half of it stripped, as it was badly lodged ; twenty-four 
days' work and team drawing one and a half miles; making ninety- two days' work for 
70| tons, testing 7° B. , which was worked at 20 cents per gallon, and also at the halves 
costing to manufacturers, including the 20 per cent, wear on outfit costing about 
$4, 000, 14 cents per gallon, which is more than it will aext, owing to being inexperi- 
enced in everything. But still the consumers are well pleased, saying that they cannot 
replace it from the grocery. Families are using live gallons where they only used one 
before, with a very great difference in their sugar bill to their credit; and why not? It 
is cane sugar instead of the insipid glucose backed with a little sorghum that is dealt 
out by most of the. stores as ' ' sugar-house. ' ' There is no doubt at all in the fact that 
very soon we shall manufacture most of sugar and sirup and my very greatest fear is that 
it will be overdone, as those who raise it increase their acreage. I find that the best sales 
are made where it is known. It brings from 45 to 60 cents per gallon. 

My outfit is a 3} Niles and complete steam train, with 12 horse-power engine and 45 
horse-power boiler, from Blymer & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. Burn bagasse and coal, which 
makes the costs about 5 cents per gallon. 

Trusting that the above hastily condensed items are encouraging to you in your prac- 
tical endeavors to place on a good foundation one of the best industries of the Northwest, 
and hoping that success will continue to crown your labors, I remain, 
Very truly, yours, 

J. D. SHERWOOD. 

Professor Henry, Madison, Wis. 

[The following extract from a letter from Joseph H. Osborn, esq., Oshkosh, Wis., 
contains some valuable suggestions:] 

I am satisfied that the sooner cane is worked up after it is cut, the better will be the 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 103 

character of the sirup made from it. I have no faith in the curing process which has 
been recommended frequently. 

Again, the cane should be kept dean. Carelessness in this respect cannot be remedied 
in small works like mine. The dirt will be carried through into the sirup and is very 
damaging in its effect. Large establishments might provide for taking it out, but in this 
case prevention is better than cure. 

I am very glad that the farmer and rural manufacturer is likely to have the aid of 
scientific gentlemen in developing this ' ' new industry. ' ' 

There are a great many things in connection with the manufacture of sirup the proper 
knowledge of which must come from a scientific source. Among these is the correct 
method of using the saccharometer. Scarcely a writer in the Rural World, upon the 
subject of Amber cane culture and manufacture, but refers to the test of the juice by the 
saccharometer. He may tell how he planted the seed and when ; how he cared for the 
crop, and how he harvested it; but when he says the juice tested 7° B. or 12° B., he does 
not state what were the conditions of the test. Did he test the j nice as it ran from the 
machine? If so, did he also test it by the thermometer'? If it was not 60° by the ther- 
mometer, did he take means to make it so ? If yea, how did he proceed ? 

Again, if he tested the juice by the saccharometer as it came directly from the mill, 
and also by the thermometer, even it the latter indicated 60°, did he allow the juice to 
stand an hour and test it again; and, if so, was the result the same ? I think not; my ex- 
perience is that there will be several degrees difference. If Professor Collier stated that 
juice tested a certain degree, I should of course know that the conditions of test were cor- 
rect; but from my own experience I doubt very much if all the writers for the Rural 
World, who state results by the saccharometer, can be relied upon as having secured the 
correct conditions necessary for the test. It seems to me that correct information upon 
the correct use of the saccharometer should be given in a popular way for the benefit of 
those engaged in this Amber cane business. 

Again, in regard to the use of lime. Are we to accept it for a settled fact that if the 
cold juice is tested with lime that it can be allowed to stand without injury for a length 
of time. (If so, how long ?) If I remember correctly, this statement was made by 
Professor [?], of Illinois, through the Rural World. 

Again, granted that lime is used with the cold juice, and heat subsequently applied 
to aid defecation, should the evaporation be proceeded with at once, or could the warm 
juwe be allowed to stand any length of time; and if so, would it aid the clarification, or 
should or could some additional method of clarification be used before commencing the 
evaporation? 

Again, in years gone by, when the making of sugar from corn-stalks was talked about, 
the removal of the young ears of corn was said to be essential to develop the greatest 
amount of sugar in the stalk. Question: Would science consider that the removal of 
the young seed tuft from the cane would add to the strength of the cane juice? Your 
circular called for facts. I have given mostly suggestions, or at at least I hope you will 
consider and treat them as such. 
Truly yours, 

JOSEPH H. ORTON. 

[To those in doubt as to whether it pays to grow cane, I would refer the following let- 
ter sent me by one of our careful farmers. It is the most complete statement I have yet 
seen, and deserves careful attention:] 

Kenosha, Wis., February 26, 1881. 

Dear Sir: I herewith give you the result of growing one acre of amber sugar-cane in 
1880. The plot of ground is composed of black muck, verging into a sand loam, two- 
thirds of the plot being the former and one-third the latter. There were about four rods 
of very low ground on which the cane grew very rank and lodged. There was no waste 
ground. In 1879 it was heavily manured and a very heavy growth of drilled fodder 
corn raised and plowed that fall. The ground was dragged and marked in rows one way, 
3£ feet apart, extending north and south, on May 20, and on May 21 it was planted by 
hand, dropping the seed in the marks made by the marker and covering with the foot. 
Two pounds of seed were used. One-half of it was planted from 12 to 18 inches apart 
and the other from 12 to 25 inches. I think it would average seven or eight seed to a hill. 
It was then rolled and cultivated twice with a two-horse cultivator. One man spent one 
day on the piece with the hoe, cutting out grass between the hills. This would not have 
been necessary had the seed come up evenly. One-third of the piece was dry, and the 
seed not being covered any deeper, did not come up for two weeks, hence could not cul- 
tivate it evenly. It was stripped by hand at intervals from September 14 to September 
27, cut and bound September 28, drawn to mill on the 29th and 30th, c; refully weighed 
and piled. Total weight, 13^M§ tons. 



104 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



The first half, or that planted the thickest, weighed about 8 tons, and the other half 
5^m tons. The cane was made up October 7 and yielded 170 gallons of sirup, weigh- 
ing 11} pounds to the gallon. The juice tested 7f by the saccharometer and was boiled 
down to 40. There was one load of leaves saved for fodder and three double boxes of 
seed which was fed to the pigs. I estimate the value of the crop as follows: 



Dr. 



To interest on land $2 00 

To half day's work plowing 1 50 

To dragging and marking 50 

To 2 pounds seed 70 

To planting 1 00 

To hoeing .„ 1 00 

To cultivating 1 00 

To stripping 6 00 

To cutting and binding 3 00 

To topping and hauling 10 30 

To hauling fodder and feed 1 00 

To four barrels at 75 cents 3 00 

To making 170 gallons at 20 cents 34 00 

65 00 
By balance 30 00 

95 00 



Cr. 



By fodder $10 00 

By 170 gallons sirup at 50 cents 85 00 

95 00 



Prof. W. A. Henry, Madison, Wisconsin. 



M. O. MYRICK. 



[The following letter from H. W. Small & Co., Chicago, will certainly be read with 
interest. It should be remembered that from the peculiar line of business of this com- 
pany — that of supplying the wholesale trade with sirups and molasses — it is in a position 
unequaled by tiny other company in the west to judge upon the true merits of the case:] 

Chicago, December 28, 1881. 

Dear Sir: We have your favor of 24th, with samples of sugar and sirup before us. 
You have obtained a remarkable yield from your experimental one-fifth acre. One thou- 
sand pounds of good brown sugar and 80 gallons of sirup per acre would be a very profit- 
able crop for any ot our farmers, and we read with very much interest your statement 
that the analysis of the cane showed nearly twice the quantity of sugar that you ob- 
tained; or, in other words, that the processes for extracting the sugar from Amber cane 
is so imperfectly understood at present, even by our most scientific men, that nearly one- 
half the yield is lost. Well, this only confirms our opinion the more strongly that the 
profitable raising of Amber cane in the north for the manufacture of sugar and sirup or 
molasses is no longer an experiment, but an assured fact; and, although but just in its 
infancy, enough has been already done to show that skill in its manufacture is the one 
great requirement. 

Now, we not only would not advise every farmer to rush in blindly and plant a few 
quarter acres of Amber cane, but we would advise that they do no such thing until you 
who are giving so much time and attention to this business learn how, and ' ' write a book ' ' 
of instructions, so that every farmer may know how without the possibility of a failure. 
Then ' ' exit ' ' New Orleans, ' ' enter ' ' Amber. 

We have received samples of Amber molasses this season that compare favorably with 
" New Orleans," while other lots have been very poor; and the difference, so far as we 
can leirn, was not so much in the soil, or climate, or seed, as in the " modus operandi" 
of manufacture. 

The sugar is there; the molasses is there. How to secure it, after it is grown and 
ready for the mill, is the one great question for you scientific men. We sincerely hope 
that the State will continue to foster this industry until it is thoroughly understood, so 
that every farmer can grow his own sugar and molasses at one quarter the present price 
of New Orleans, and, what may be even better than that, know that they have an ab- 
solutely pure article 

The better grades of amber are slowly overcoming the old prejudice against sorghum, 
and wa believe the time not far distant when a choice Amber molasses will be more 
sought after than a somewhat doubtful mixture of New Orleans glucose and sirup. 

Wishing you every success, we are 
Yours truly, 

H. W. SMALL & CO. 

Prof. W. A. Henry, Madison. 

•* * ¥r * * * * 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 105 



10.— REPORT ON THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR, SIRUP, AND GLUCOSE 

FROM SORGHUM. 

[Based upon experiments made in 1880 and 1881, at the Illinois Industrial University.] 

By Henry H. Webek, Ph. D., Professor of Chemistry, and Melville A. Scovell, M. S., Professor of 

Agricultural Chemistry. 

Sib,: The undersigned have the honor to submit herewith their complete report of ex- 
periments in the manufacture of sugar from sorghum, made at the Illinois Industrial 
University during the seasons of 1880 and 1881. 
Very respectfully, 

H; A. WEBER, Professor Chemistry. 
M. A. SCOVELL, Professor Agricultural Chemistry. 
S. H. Peabody, LL.D., 

Regent Illinois Industrial University. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The object of the investigations made upon sorghum cane at the Illinois Industrial 
University was to settle, if possible, the much disputed question whether sugar could be 
made from this plant on a manufacturing scale and with commercial success. From the 
many conflicting reports relating to this matter no definite conclusions could be drawn, 
and it was found necessary, in order to»prosecute our work in an intelligent manner, to 
treat the whole subject as an entirely new field of investigation. It has been claimed by 
many that the proper sphere of the sorghum industry is the production of sirup, and a 
great deal of good work has been accomplished in improving the quality and yield of this 
article. But what may have been true for sorghum a few years ago does not hold good 
to-day. The sorghum industry is at the present time confronted by another, namely, 
the glucose industry, which, although still in its infancy, has already shown its superiority 
in the production of sirup both in regard to quality and quantity. This statement is 
made with due consideration of the many attacks which the glucose industry has of late 
received. Glucose as an article of food is equal to if not superior to cane sugar, and its arti- 
ficial production from corn or other amylaceous substances is a perfectly legitimate busi- 
ness. It is true that in the decolorization of the glucose injurious substances may be 
employed, and if the products sent to market are not perfectly free from them great in- 
jury may be done to the consumers. The same thing may be said for the refining of 
cane sugar. But in either case the employment of injurious substances is not a necessity, 
and should be condemned by every one who is interested in public welfare. Glucose, 
when made as it should be, is perfectly harmless, and no valid objection can be made to 
it in a sanitary point of view, when employed for any legitimate purpose to which it is 
adapted. The sorghum industry must regard the manufacture of glucose as a fair com- 
petitor, and the latter will never lose in importance by any unjustifiable attacks or criti- 
cisms. From these considerations it seems evident that the production of sirup alone can 
no longer maintain the cultivation of sorghum on a scale which would suffice to give it 
the name of an industry. 

To accomplish this sorghum growers should turn all their attention and energy to the 
production of crystallizable sugar, which glucose, on account of its inherent properties, 
can never replace, and which will always find a ready market free from all competition. 

These circumstances led to the investigations about to be described, and the results 
obtained have exceeded our most sanguine expectations. Our experiments, both scien- 
tific and practical, have shown beyond a doubt not only that the manufacture of sugar 
from sorghum in our own State is practicable, but also that it will be highly remunera- 
tive when undertaken on a large scale. 

Up to the present time sorghum seed has never found a proper utilization. Although 
in its general composition it resembles other grain, as corn, the amount of tannin con- 
tained in it, as our analysis given farther on shows, will no doubt prevent its liberal use 
as food for animals. Knowing that immense quantities of seed will necessarily be pro- 
duced as soon as the sorghum sugar industry is introduced, we have given this matter 
careful study, and have ibund that the seed is eminently adapted for the production of 
glucose. We have prepared the glucose directly from the ground seed, without the tedi- 
ous and expensive process of first separating the starch. The great advantage of this industry 
to the sorghum industry will appear from the fact that as the seed is practically ripe 



106 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



when the cane is cut it can be stored up until the sugar season is over, and can afterward 
be manufactured into glucose with the same machinery now used in making sugar from 
the cane, thus giving employment for the balance of the year to the works, which other- 
wise would have to lie idle for eight or ten months annually. 

Our work occupied two distinct fields of experiments: First, scientific investigations, 
in which the nature of sorghum cane was studied ; second, practical experiments in mak- 
ing sugar. 

PERIODICAL EXAMINATION OF THE CANES FOR SUGAR, 

The objects of these analyses were: 

1. To note the development and changes of the sugars in the plant during its growth. 

2. To notice the changes which the cane undergoes after reaching this maximum stage 
in the quality and quantity of its saccharine matter: First, while standing in the field 
untouched; second, standing stripped two weeks; third, cut and lying under shelter. 

3. To ascertain the portion of the stock richest in sugar. 

4. To study the effect of different varietiesof soils on the development of sugarinthe cane. 

5. To determine the effect of freshly manured soils on the development of sugar in sor- 
ghum. 

6. To compare the different varieties of sorghum as sugar-producing plants. 
These examinations were conducted in the following manner: 

On the dates specified, ten average stalks were selected from the given field, stripped, 
topped just below the uppermost leaf, and cut off one joint above ground. The stripped 
and topped cane was crushed in a thoroughly cleansed Victor mill. The juice was col- 
lected in a bottle, and after being cooled down to 20° c, the sp. gr. was noted, then 10 
c. c. were put into a graduated cylinder for the estimation of grape sugar, and 10 c. c. 
were put in a beaker for determining the amount of cane sugar. 

For the estimation of grape sugar the 10 c. c. measured off for this purpose were di- 
luted so as to measure exactly 100 c.c. and the grape sugar then determined by Fehling's 
solution. 

The portion reserved for cane sugar was diluted, 12 drops of dilute sulphuric acid 
added, and the whole heated over a water bath for one hour. The mixture was then 
allowed to cool, sodium hydroxide added to alkaline reaction, diluted to 500 c.c, 
and the total amount of sugar determined with Fehling's solution. The difference be- 
tween the grape and total sugar was estimated as cane sugar by multiplying by 0. 95. 

The results of the analyses are given in the tables which follow: 

Table showing the development and chance of sugars in sorghum. 



Stage of development. 



Beginning to head.. 

In blossom 

Seed soft and milky 



Seed in hardening dough. 



Seed ripe. 




Aug. 14 
Aug. 10 
Aug. 25 
Aug. 10 
Aug. 14 
Sept. 6 
Aug. 10 
Aug. 12 
Sept, 1 
Sept. 2 
Aug. 25 
Sept. 16 
Aug. 10 
Aug. 12 
Aug. 16 
Aug. 16 
Aug. 19 
Aug. 19 
Aug. 19 
Aug. 19 
Aug. 19 
Sept, 1 
Sept, 1 
Sept. 1 
Sept, 1 
Sept. 6 
Sept. 16 
Oct. 2 
Oct. 
Sept. 
Sept. 
Sept. 
Sept, 



1880 .. 
1881 .. 

1880 .. 
1881 .. 
1880.. 
1880... 

1881 .. 
1881 .. 
1881 .. 
1881.. 
1880.. 
1880 .. 
1881 ... 
1881 ... 
1881... 
1881 ... 
1881 ... 
1881 ... 
1881 ... 
1881 .. 
1881 ... 
1881 ... 



Orange.. 

Amber .. 

Orange.. 

Amber .. 

Amber .. 

Orange.. 

Amber., 
do ...0. 

Orange, 

Orange.. 

Amber., 

Orange., 

Amber . 

do....:. 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Liberian 



1881.... I Amber... 

1881...., do 

1881 ...J Chinese. 



1880 ... 
1880... 
1880 ... 
1880 ... 
1881 ... 
1881 ... 
1881 ... 
1881... 



Amber .. 

do 

do 

Orange. 

I.I. U 

I Amber .. 

I do 

1 do 



c gra v- 
juice. 


u 
o3 

bfi 
3 

EC 


o3 
bD 

3 


Specifi 
ity of 


0> 

o3 
u 




a 

03 

o 


1.055 


5.70 


4.90 


1.058 


8.39 


3.38 


1.062 


6.10 


7.12 


1.066 


5.43 


8.42 


1.065 


3.34 


10.75 


1.068 


5.00 


9.13 


1.068 


4.25 


9.84 


1.070 


3.75 


12.75 


1.048 


6.11 


3.71 


1.048 


6.58 


5.19 


1.068 


2.47 


12.48 


1.065 


4.11 


9.76 


1.074 


3.65 


10.10 


1.074 


2.65 


1.337 


1.070 


3.92 


1.189 


1.072 


3.00 


1.366 


1.067 


3.46 


12.49 


1.074 


3.10 


13.18 


1.076 


2.97 


13.64 


1.070 


2.98 


12.80 


1.070 


3.26 


12.52 


1.060 


3.67 


10.24 


1.063 


2.61 


13.47 


1.056 


2.18 


11.14 


1. 052 


4.13 


8.60 


1.064 


2.13 


11.42 


1.065 


2.79 


11.02 


1.069 


2.47 


10.06 


1.078 


4.02 


11.41 


1.070 


2.93 


12.48 


1.070 


2.71 


10.77 


1.070 


2.61 


10.57 


1.067 


3.16 


11.76 



0> bfi 
bJ)3 

u % 
> o3 




8.56 



11.95 



11.18 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



107 



The analyses made in 1880, numbers 1, 3, 5, 6, 11, 12, 26, 27, 28, and 29, were from 
cane grown upon the University farm. 

The following data in regard to the planting and cultivation of the cane were furnished 
by G. E. Morrow, professor of agriculture: 

Two varieties, Orange and Early Amber; seed obtained from Hedges, Saint Louis; 
planted by hand, May 14, 1880. The Orange was planted in a plot of nearly one acre 
(.955) in 24 rows four feet apart, in hills about four feet in a row. The Early Amber 
was planted in a plot of one and one-half acres (1.48) in 40 rows three and one-half feet 
apart, and with hills about same distance apart. Each plot was on good prairie soil which 
had been in corn two years, following a liberal application of barn-yard manure. The 
plots received ordinary field culture — a two-horse corn cultivator — except hand hoeing 
and thinning to four or rive stalks when ten to twelve inches- high. The suckers were 
not removed. The Orange averaged about seven feet in height, and over an inch in 
diameter at base. The Early Amber averaged over nine feet in height, and rather less 
than three-quarters of an each in diameter at base. The canes were cut about six inches 
from the ground. Of the Orange, from two to three feet of the top was taken off; of 
the Early Amber, rather more than three feet. 

An analysis was made of the soil on which these two varieties of cane grew, and also 
of its subsoil and of a virgin prairie soil adjoining. 

The following table gives the result of these analyses. No. 1 was prairie soil, No. 2 
the soil on which the cane grew, No. 3 its subsoil: 



Soil. 


No. 1. 


No. 2. 


No. 3. 


Organic matter 


1.9414 
0.0798 
1. 8367 
1. 4775 
0. 1798 
0.1683 
0.3835 
0. 5244 
0. 0733 
0. 0177 
0. 1403 


2.4880 
0. 0617 
1.4517 
0.5700 
0.2200 
0. 2103 
0. 5845 
0. 6757 
0.0785 
0. 0211 
0. 1519 


3. 7551 


Silicic acid 


0. 0975 


Sesquioxide of iron 


1.2650 


Alumina 


1. 7150 


Manganese 




Phosphate of lime 


0.1152 




1. 2515 


Corbonate of magnesia 


0. 7140 


Potash 


0.0505 


Soda 


0. 0970 




0. 2137 








6.8327 


7.5134 


9.2745 


Organic matter 


4. 1150 ' 
72. 1765 
12. 7143 

0. 5729 

0. 4893 

3.0041 

0. 5120 

0.0093 

0, 1933 


6.0700 
68. 7127 
12.0520 
0.7721 
0. 4831 
3. 0331 
0. 6344 
0. 0847 
0. 1553 


8. 9549 




68. 0224 




9. 3156 




0.6444 




0.4836 




2. 4561 




0.5664 








0. 2628 








,. 92.7867 


91.9974 


90.7062 












99. 6194 


99. 5108 


99. 9807 



Analyses Nos. 2, 4, 7, and 13 were made from cane grown upon the farm of Mr. J. 
W. Cushman, two miles s«uth of Urbana. The field on which this cane was planted 
had grown seven consecutive crops of sorghum, without manure. It was high prairie 
land sloping towards the south. Seed planted April 25. 

The cane of Nos. 8 and 14 was grown about one and one-half miles north east of Urbana, 
on timber land. The field had been used as a barn-yard previous to its being planted 
with cane, and was therefore richly manured. The seed came from Minnesota 
through Mr. Le Due, ex-Commissioner of Agriculture. The seed was planted the first 
week in May. Cultivated as usual for corn. 

Results Nos. 15 and 16 were obtained from cane grown three miles south of Champaign, 
on virgin prairie. Eight rows were planted along the roadside, bounded on the outer 
side by the road itself and the inner by a tall, dense hedge- fence. Mr. Holmes, the 
owner of the cane, said the seed came from Mississippi and was planted the last week in 
April; land gradually rising from a slough near by. Two varieties of heads were 
present in this cane; the panicles of one (analysis No. 15) were clustered and erect; those 
of the other (No. 16) were spreading with pedicels drooping. 

No. 21. University farm; volunteer cane, from cane grown on the field last year. 

The cane from which analyses Nos. 17, 18, 19, and 20 were made was grown upon 
timber land about three miles northeast of Urbana. The seed probably came from Min- 
nesota. 



108 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

No. 17. Cane grown by Mr. E. Bishop; field ten years in cultivation, manured 
three or four years ago; seed planted about the middle of May; rows 3£ feet apart in 
hills 3 feet apart; an average of eight stalks on a hill; cane small; Nos. 18 and 19, 
cane grown by Christ. Shuman. No. 18 was on high land, twelve years in cultivation 
and had never been manured; an average of five stalks in a hill; growth of cane me- 
dium. No. 19 was on low land, four years in cultivation; average of eight stalks in a 
hill; cane large and thrifty. 

No. 20. Cane grown by Samuel Wilson, on land four years in cultivation ; hills 3 by 
3 } feet apart; an average of eight stalks in a hill; field on the top of a small hill. 

Analyses Nos. 9, 10, 22, 31, and 32 were made in Macoupin County, Illinois, Nos. 9, 
22, and 31 from cane raised about two miles north of Virden, by Mr. Charles Rauch, 
and Nos. 10 and 32 one mile west of Girard, by Mr. D. C. Ashbaugh. The prairie soil 
in this county is very black, deep, and "mucky " No. 9, cane grown on timber land; 
seed planted May 12, 1881 ; hills 3 by 3, an average of five stalks in a hill. No. 22, 
volunteer cane; prairie land. No. 31, prairie land; seed planted first part of May. 
No. 32, prairie land ; seed planted latter part of May. 

The results of experiment No. 53 were obtained from cane grown by Christ. Lust, 
about a mile west of Monticello, Piatt County. The field was timber land — a poor, 
clayey soil ; seed planted first week in May. 

Analyses Nos. 23, 24, and 25 were made of the juice of sorghum grown upon the so- 
called Mississippi sand-lands near Oquawka, Illinois. No. 23 was from cane grown by 
Dr. Park, one mile east of Oquawka. Nos. 24 and 25 were made from cane grown by 
Tom Ricketts, two miles northeast of same place. 

Development of sugar. — Analyses Nos. 5, 11, 26, 27, and 28 were made from the same 
field on the date specified, and show conclusively that the cane sugar reached its maxi- 
mum quantity when the seed was in the " hardening dough, " and that it afterward 
gradually diminished. The same fact appears on comparing the average under each 
division in the table. 

Effect of stripping and allowing to stand. — On October 2, 1880, an analysis was made of 
the juice of cane which had been stripped on the 18th of September — the cane not other- 
wise disturbed — with the following result: 

Specific gravity of juice • 1 1. 074 

Grape sugar per cent. _ 1. 82 

Cane sugar per cent _ _ 13. 11 

This subject needs further investigation. 

Change of sugar after cutting the cane. — On October 23, 1880, an analysis was made of 
the juice of the Orange cane which had been cut, stripped, and topped October 2 and 
placed under shelter until examined. Juice whitish. 

Specific gravity 1. 091 

Grape sugar per cent.- 14. 66 

Cane sugar per cent-.. 3. 55 

A sample of cane, cut August 25, 1880, without being stripped and topped, was pre- 
served in a warm room where it had become dry long before it was examined. On April 
3, 1881, it was analyzed and showed 12 per cent, of grape sugar and no trace of cane 
sugar. 

Comparison of the upper and lower half of the cane. — The two following analyses were 
made to show what part of the cane is richest in sugar: 

Amber — October 2. 1880. — Juice obtained from the upper half of the stalks after topping 
as usual. 

Specific gravity 1. 069 

Grape sugar per cent__ 2. 94 

Cane sugar per cent__ 9. 67 

Amber— October 2, 1880. — Juice obtained from the lower half of stalks. 

Specific gavity 1. 070 

Grape sugar per cent_ _ 1. 94 

Cane sugar per cent__ 11.64 

Effects of soils. — The following analyses were made to study the effect of different va- 
rieties of soil upon the production of sugar in sorghum. But as other circumstances, as 
locality from which seed was obtained, time of planting, and manner of cultivation may 
affect the amount of sugar, many more investigations would have to be made before 
definite conclusions could be reached. The table, however, shows that sorghum can be 
grown successfully on all varieties of soil specified. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



109 



Table showing the effects of different soils on the development of sugar in sorghum: 



Variety of soil. 


u 
Xi 




a 




3 




fc 


Prairie 


1 
2 






3 




4 




5 


Virgin prairie.. 


6 




7 


Timber land.... 


8 




9 




10 


• 


11 




12 




13 


Missis'pi sand 


14 


land. 






15 



Years in cul- 
tivation. 



27 
7 

27 
Unknown. 
Very old... 



Fertilization. 



<H 


1 





fcg 




u u 


*© 


b£"3 


■** a 


o— > 


T * 


«C«w 


•3 ° 


u 


& >> 




ft* 8 


> 


05 "" 



Unknown . 

10 

12 

4 

4 

Many 



Manured 3 years ago. 

No manure 

Manured 4 years ago. 

No manure 

do 

No manure 

do 

Barn-yard manure.... 
Manured 4 years ago. 

No manure 

do , 

do 

do 



O 



Amber.. 
Amber.. 
Amber.. 
Amber.. 



1.068 
1.074 
1.070 
1.07 



Amber.. 


1.07 


Amber.. 


1.07 


Amber.. 


1.072 


Amber.. 


1.074 


Amber.. 


1.067 


Amber.. 


1.074 


Amber.. 


±.076 


Amber.. 


1.07 


Amber.. 


1.066 


Amber.. 


1.063 


Amber.. 


1.056 



2.47 
3.65 
3.26 
2.71 
2.61 
3.92 
3.00 
2.65 



2.18 



12.48 
10.10 

12. 52 
10.77 
10. 51 
11.89 
13.65 
13.37 
12.49 
13.18 
13.64 
12.80 
11.76 

13. 47 

11.14 



Average. 



Grape, 2. 94. 
Cane, 11. 28. 

Grape, 3. 46. 
Cane, 12.77. 



Grape, 3. 07. 
Cane, 12.87. 



Grape, 2.39. 
Cane, 12.3. 



Effect of manure. — To ascertain the effect of manure a field was selected which had 
been used as a barn-yard for several years. A part of the cane was planted directly on 
the rotten manure pile. An analysis was made of a sample taken from this part of the 
field, as well as of a part away from the manure pile. The seed in each case was in the 
" hardening dough. " The following is the result of the analysis: 

Manured — Sp. gr. 1.063. Grape sugar 2.65. Cane sugar 10.89. 
Unmanured — Sp. gr. 1.074. Grape sugar 2.65. Cane sugar 13.37. 

Variety of cane. — From the table it appears that the Amber is best adapted for the 
production of cane sugar. The Orange and Liberian can also be employed advantageously 
in the latter part of the season, as they mature later. Their yield is greater per acre, 
and this fact no doubt would compensate for the less proportion of cane sugar to grape 
sugar contained in them. Analysis No. 25 of the Chinese cane seems to indicate that it 
would be unfit for the production of crystallizable sugar. 

PROXIMATE ANALYSIS OF SORGHUM CANE. 



An average portion of the Orange cut at the same time, October 6, as that used in ex- 
periment 29, was reserved, with tops and leaves still remaining for the analysis. 

The leaves and two feet of tops were removed, and cross-sections taken between each 
joint of the remainder of the stalks. The proximate principles were then determined 
according to the following scheme: The sections, as soon as cut, were weighed and then 
dried in a water oven, allowed to cool in the air, weighed, finally pulverized, and put in 
a stoppered bottle. Of the dried substance, ten grams were required for sugar, fiber, 
starch, gum, and vegetable acids ; one gram for hygroscopic water and a sh ; one gram for 
total albuminoids ; five grams for oil. The gram of dried cane rese rved for water and 
ash was heated in an oven at 110° C. until its weight was constant. It was then ignited 
and the ash weighed. The ten grams for the estimation of sugar, &c. , were macerated 
with water in a mortar, the water decanted, and this process con tinued several times, 
the decanted liquids being filtered by Bunsen's method, and fin ally the residue was 
thrown on the filter and washed until the filtrate measured one liter. One hundred c. c. 
of this solution was evaporated nearly to dryness on a water bath, then the desiccation 
completed by passing a current of dry air upon the residue by means of an aspirator, the 
temperature of the substance ranging in the mean time between 90° and 100° C. The 
residue was then weighed, incinerated, and weight of ash noted. 

Albuminoids. — Four hundred c. c. of the aqueous ex tract were evaporated to a sirup 
on the water-bath, calcined gypsum added, the whole th en dried and the residue ignited 
with soda lime. 

Five hundred c. c. of the aqueous extract were ra pidly evaporated nearly to dryness, 
and the residue exhausted with alcohol of 87 per cent, by repeated boilings with fresh 
portions of the solvent as long as it was colored. The liquids were filtered, the residue 
thrown upon the filter and washe d with hot alcohol, and the washings added to the fil- 
trate. Water was added to the filtrate, the alcohol expelled by heat, and then the solu- 
tion diluted to 200 c. c. 



1 1 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

Grape sugar. — One hundred c. c. of this solution were reserved for the estimation of 
grape sugar. The remainder was acidulated with dilute sulphuric acid, and boiled to 
convert the cane into grape sugar. 

Cane sugar. — The cane sugar was then estimated with Fehling's solution, as usual. 

Gum and vegetable acids. — The residue insoluble in alcohol was dried at 100 C, weighed, 
and then incinerated. This ash and the soluble albuminoids were subtracted from the 
total amount of residue, and the remainder estimated as gum and vegetable acids. 

The residue left after extracting the ten grams of cane with water was washed with 
alcohol acidulated with sulphuric acid to dissolve the albuminoids, transferred to a 
beaker, and diluted to 200 c. c. Five c. c. of normal sulphuric acid were added, and the 
whole boiled for an hour on the water-bath, then filtered through Bunsen's filter. The 
filter was also cut into shreds and boiled with water containing 1 per cent, of sulphuric 
acid to dissolve any starch remaining on it. After filtering, the two filtrates were ad- 
ded, and the starch estimated from an alliquot portion by conversion into glucose. 

The method was as follows: The starch solution was diluted to 500 c. c. Three sep- 
arate portions of 50 c. c. each were transferred to prescription bottles, 10 c. c. normal 
acid added. The bottles were then stoppered with rubber stoppers firmly tied, and placed 
in a salt-bath and boiled respectively for three, four, and six hours. The contents of the 
bottles were then neutralized, diluted, and starch calculated from the amount of grape 
sugar present. The solution boiled six hours had 0. 02 per cent, more starch than that 
boiled four hours. Three hours' boiling did not convert all of the starch into grape 
sugar. The residue from which the starch was taken was boiled with sodium hydroxide, 
thrown upon a weighed filter and repeatedly washed with the same solution, then washed 
with hot water, and finally with alcohol and then with ether. The washed residue was 
dried at 110° C. and weighed, then incinerated, the weight of ash subtracted from the 
former weight, and the)difference estimated as fiber. The gram reserved for the albumi- 
noids was ignited with soda-lime, and albuminoids determined as usual. 

The oil was extracted by ether from 5 grams of the dried cane. 

The total water was estimated by adding the per cent, of loss of the air-dried cane and 
the hygroscopic water. 

RESULTS. 

Composition of stalks of Orange cane in 100 parts: 

Water 76.58 

Grape sugar 3.00 

Cane sugar 9. 77 

Starch 4.12 

Fiber 4.54 

Oil 0.07 

Gums and vegetable acids 0.24 

Soluble albuminoids 0.23 

Insoluble 0.16 

Soluble ash 0.68 

Insoluble ash 0.06 



99.45 

ASH. 

The ash from the remaining dried cane was analyzed by the following method: The 
cane was incinerated at a low heat, pulverized, dried, and put in a stoppered bottle. 

Chlorine. — Two grams of the ash were exhausted with water, silver-nitrate added to 
the extract and the whole acidified with nitric acid. The precipitate of chloride of silver 
was collected upon a filter, dried, ignited, weighed, and the chlorine calculated in the 
usual manner. The filtrate was treated with excess of hydrochloric acid, silver chloride 
removed, and the solution preserved. 

Silica. — The ash insoluble in water was treated with hydrochloric acid, brought to dry- 
ness, moistened with hydrochloric acid, water added, and the residue thrown on a weighed 
filter. The filter and its contents were heated at 160° C. until of constant weight, then 
ignited, and the silica weighed. The loss found between the two weights was called char- 
coal. 

The solution from which the chlorine had been precipitated and the filtrate from the 
silica were mixed, and the whole diluted to 200 c. c. and well shaken. Fifty c. c. of 
this solution were 'reserved for the estimation of sulphuric acid and alkalies, 50 c. c. for 
phosphoric acid, manganese, lime, and magnesia. 

Iron. — The remaining 100 c. c. were treated with sulphuric acid, and heated upon a 
water bath until the chlorine was expelled ; then transferred to a flask, water and sul- 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. Ill 

phuric acid added, and the iron reduced with hydrogen, generated by zinc suspended in 
the liquid by means of a platinum wire. To facilitate the operation, a strip of plati- 
num was introduced into the flask and allowed to come in contact with the zinc. After 
the reduction the iron was estimated by a standard solution of potassium permanganate. 
Phosphoric acid. — A solution of ferric chloride was added to the portion reserved for phos- 
phoric acid, &c, in sufficient quantity for the iron to combine with all the phosphoric 
acid present. Sodium carbonate was added until the last drop caused a precipitate, which 
did not redissolve upon agitation. The mixture was then heated, a hot solution of so- 
dium acetate added, and the whole brought to the boiling temperature, filtered, and 
washed with hot water. 

The residue was dissolved in nitric acid and concentrated to about 10 c.c. ; a nitric 
acid solution of molybdate of ammonia was added in excess, and the mixture allowed to 
stand in a warm place for twenty-four hours. The precipitate was collected on a filter, 
the beaker rinsed, and the contents of the filter washed with a mixture of the molyb- 
date solution and water. The precipitate was dissolved in the smallest quantity of am- 
monia. Any of the phospho-molybdate precipitate remaining in the beaker was dis- 
solved in a mixture containing three parts of water and 1 of ammonia and thrown upon 
the filter; finally, the filter was washed with the ammoniacal water. The filtrate boiled, 
and the phosphoric acid precipitated with a mixture of ammonium-chloride, magnesium 
sulphate and ammonia, made according to Fresenius's formula. After allowing the mixt- 
ure to stand twelve hours, the precipitate was collected on a filter, washed with ammonia 
water, and the volume of the filtrate and washings noted. 

The precipitate was ignited in a platinum crucible, a little nitric acid added, and again 
ignited to oxidize the charred matter present, cooled, and weighed. As ammonia-mag- 
nesia-phosphate is soluble in about 54,000 parts of ammoniacal water, .003 of a gram was 
add to this weight, as the filtrate measured a little over 150 c.c. The phosphoric acid 
was then calculated from this weight of pyrophosphate of magnesium. 

Manganese. — The solution from which the iron and phosphoric were precipitated was 
treated with a few drops of bromine, and boiled to precipitate the manganese. The 
precipitate was collected upon a filter and thoroughly washed, then strongly ignited, and 
weighed. 

Lime. — The above filtrate was concentrated, and while hot a little ammonia added, and 
then an excess of ammonium oxalate, to precipitate the lime. The mixture was allowed 
to stand twelve hours. The precipitate was then collected upon a filter, washed, dried, and 
ignited in a platinum crucible. After the filter was reduced to ash, carbonic acid was 
passed over the ignited lime to reconvert any oxide formed into carbonate. From the 
weight of calcium-carbonate thus obtained the per cent, of lime was calculated. 

Magnesia. — The filtrate from the lime was concentrated, ammonia added in excess, and 
then a solution of phosphate of soda to precipitate the magnesia present. This pre- 
cipitate and its filtrate were treated the same as the corresponding one, the estimation of 
phosphoric acid. The magnesia was calculated from the amount of pyrophosphate of 
magnesia found. 

Sulphuric acid. — The 50 c.c. of the solution reserved for this purpose were boiled, and 
the sulphuric acid precipitated, with a slight exces of barium-chloride. The precipitate 
was collected upon a filter, washed, ignited, and weighed. 

Potassa. — The above solution was treated, after concentration on a water-bath, with 
ammonia and ammonium-carbonate as long as any precipitate was formed, digested on 
a water-bath, filtered, and the contents of the filter carefully washed. The filtrate and 
washings were evaporated to dryness on a water-bath, and the residue ignited to expel 
ammoniacal salts. This residue was then treated with five and one-half times its weight 
of pure oxalic acid in the form of a concentrated solution, then evaporated to dryness, 
and again ignited to dull redness. The ignited residue was treated with a small quan- 
tity of boiling water, thrown upon a filter, washed with hot water, hydrochloric acid ' 
added to the filtrate, the mixture evaporated to dryness, and gently ignited, and the 
weight of the alkaline chlorides ascertained. 

The separation of the alkalies was effected with platinic chloride, as follows : 

The residue of alkalies was dissolved in a little water, and enough platinic chloride 
added to combine with the alkalies estimated as potassium salt. This mixture was 
evaporated nearly to dryness over a water-bath, care being taken not to boil the water. 
A mixture of six volumes of alcohol and one of ether was poured over the residue, and 
the whole allowed to stand several hours in a covered vessel, with occasional stirring. 
The insoluble potassio-platinic chloride was transferred to an equipoised filter, washed 
with alcohol and ether mixed, and finally dried at 100° C. , and weighed. 

Soda. — From the weight of the double potassium chloride the amount of the potas- 
sium chloride was ascertained. The weight w r as subtracted from the weight of the com- 
bined alkali chlorides, and the remainder called sodium chloride, and calculated as 
soda. 



112 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

Carbonic acid. — One grain of the ash was transferred to a Rose carbonic acid apparatus, 
and the carbonic acid estimated by loss. The following were the results obtained : 

COMPOSITION OF ASH. 

Silica 27.91 

Iron oxide 0. 14 

Phosphoric acid 5. 37 

Manganese oxide 0. 89 

Lime 6.82 

Magnesia : 4. 64 

Sulphuric acid 6. 23 

Potassa 46. 48 

Soda 0.98 

Sodium chloride 0. 42 



99.88 
ANALYSIS OF SOEGHUM SEED. 

A sufficient quantity of the seed was ground as fine as possible in an iron mortar, and 
was preserved in a glass-stoppered bottle. 

The following portions of the ground seed were taken : 

10 grams, for the estimation of sugar, dextrine, starch, and fiber. 
1 gram, for the estimation of water and ash. 
1 gram, for the estimation of albuminoids. 
1 gram, for the estimation of oil. 
1 gram, for the estimation of tannin. 

Sugar, &c. — The ten grams reserved for sugar, &c, were rubbed up thoroughly with 
water in a mortar, then transferred to a filter and washed well with water. 

Solution = A. 
Residue = B. 

The solution, A, was concentrated to about 10 c.c. in a porcelain dish on a water-bath r 
then transferred into a strong prescription bottle and washed with about 10 c.c. of water, 
and the washings added. Five c. c. of normal sulphuric acid were added, the bottle closed 
with a rubber stopper securely tied. The bottle and its contents were then transferred 
to a salt bath and boiled for six hours. After cooling, the contents of the bottle were 
transferred to a graduated cylinder, neutralized and diluted to 100 c.c, the coloring mat- 
ter precipitated with acetate of lead, and, after thoroughly mixing, the whole was al- 
lowed to stand until the precipitate had settled to the bottom. A portion of the clear 
liquid was then transferred to a burette and dropped into 10 c.c. of Fehling's solution, di- 
luted four times, and at the boiling temperature, until the whole of the copper had been 
precipitated as cuprous oxide. This point was determined by filtering a small quantity 
from time to time, acidifying the filtrate with acetic acid, and testing for copper with 
ferro-cyanide of potassium. The number of c.c. of the sugar solution it took was noted, 
and the sugar and dextrine determined by the following proportion : 

1. The number- of c.c. it took to precipitate copper solution : total number of c.c. : : 
.05 (grains of grape sugar required to precipitate 10 c.c. of Fehling's solution) : x. 

X multiplied by 0.95 will give the grams of sugar in 10 grams of seed. 

The residue, B, was washed on the filter with alcohol acidulated with sulphuric acid 
and finally with water, to dissolve the gluten. Then the residue was washed off the 
filter into a beaker diluted to about 400 c.c, 5 c.c of sulphuric acid added, and the 
whole boiled on a water-bath until the liquid had no milky appearance. It was then 
filtered through an equipoised filter and washed. 

Solution = C. 
Residue = D. 

Solution C was diluted to 500 c.c. Fifty c.c of this solution were transferred to a 
prescription bottle and then treated as above for sugar and dextrine. From the grape 
sugar obtained the amount of starch was calculated. 

Residue D was boiled with hot sodium hydroxide, again thrown upon the filter and. 
washed with the same solvent; afterwards with hot water, then with alcohol, and finally 
with ether. The washed residue was dried at 119° C, weighed, ignited, and the amount 
of ash deducted. The remainder was estimated as fiber. f 

Water. — For the estimation of water the ground seed was weighed in a glass-stop- 
pered test-tube. After weighing, the glass stopper was replaced by a rubber one, through. 
which passed two glass tubes, bent at right angles. One of these tubes was connected 
with an aspirator; the other with a calcium chloride tube and a sulphuric acid drying' 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 113 

bottle. The test-tube and its contents were then placed in an opening of a drying oven, 
whose temperature was between 100° and 110° C. During the operation a current of air, 
passing through the sulphuric acid and calcium chloride tube, thus drying it, was drawn 
into the tube and the moisture sucked out by means of the aspirator. When the weight 
became constant the loss was estimated as water. 

Ash. — The contents of the tube were transferred to a platinum crucible, incinerated, 
and ash weighed. 

Albuminoids. — One gram of the ground seed was ignited with soda lime. The sub- 
stance was intimately mixed with a portion of soda-lime sufficient to fill a 14-inch com- 
bustion tube two-thirds full. About two inches of the tube were filled with soda-lime, 
then the mixture of soda-lime and substance added, the mortar rinsed with soda-lime, 
and finally the rinsings and enough soda-lime added to nearly fill the tube. A plug of 
asbestus was put in, and the tube gently tapped to insure an air passage throughout its 
length. 

Will's bulbs were charged with a deci-normal solution of oxalic acid. The tube, being 
placed in the combustion furnace, was connected with the bulbs. The fore part of the 
tube, containing the soda-lime only, was heated to redness, then heat applied, one jet at 
a time, along the entire length of the tube, care being taken that the combustion was 
completed in that portion of the tube where heat was applied before other jets were turned 
on, and also that the combustion was not too rapid. After the combustion was ended 
the contents of the bulbs were transferred to a beaker, tincture of litmus added, and the 
excess of acid titrated with a deci-normal solution of potassa. The amount of ammonia 
found to be present was calculated as nitrogen. The nitrogen was multiplied by 6. 25 and 
the result called albuminoids. 

Oil. — The one gram of ground seed reserved for the estimation of oil was placed in a 
short test-tube, the bottom of which was drawn out in the shape of a cone, with a small 
opening at the apex. A small filter placed in the cone kept any of the substance from 
passing through the opening. The tube was suspended in a small flask, and this stop- 
pered with a cork through which a long glass tube passed. The whole was placed in a 
water-bath, ether Ci oz. ) put in the outer tube, and heat applied to the water-bath until 
the temperature of the water boiled the ether. This operation was continued for half an 
hour, the percolate transferred to small weighed beaker, ether evaporated, and the beaker 
and its contents dried at 100° C. , and then weighed. 

Tannin. — One gram of the pulverized seed was digested with hot water for several 
hours, and the tannin estimated by a standard solution of gelatine.* 

COMPOSITION OF SORGHUM SEED — ORANGE. 

Sugar 0. 56 

Starch 63.09 

Fiber , 6.35 

Water 12.51 

Ash 0.64 

Albuminoids 7. 35 

Oil 3.08 

Tannin 5.42 

Total - 99.00 

Experiments in Sugar Making. — 1880. 

The grinding of cane and the evaporation of the juice began on the 18th of September. 
It was the intention to begin working up the Early Amber as soon as possible after it had 
reached its maximum per cent, of cane sugar, and thus have it finished by the time the 
Orange was ready to harvest, leaving a small portion for subsequent experiments. Ow- 
ing to the delay in the arrival of machinery the work was not begun until the above date. 

The Early Amber had been ripe for over two weeks and was lying prostrate from the 
effects of a storm. The Orange was ripe. The object of these investigations was to see 
whether any method of manufacture of the juice into sirup could be depended upon to 
insure the subsequent crystallization of the sugar. 

These investigations were undertaken with a view to the simplicity of machinery used 
and to the economical manufacture of the sirup, so that they could be of practical use to the 
farmer should any of the experiments prove successful. 

The apparatus used for crushing and pressing the cane was a two-horse Victor mill, 

*This remarkable result showing 5.42 per cent, of tannin requires confirmation.— Committee. 

S. Mis. 51 8 



114 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

with three upright rollers. The juice was evaporated in Cook's evaporator, with furnace 
attached, and of the size recommended for use with a two-horse crusher. 

The remaining apparatus consisted of barrels, tubs, pails, &c. 

An attempt was made to heat the juice for skimming and clarification after it had been 
treated by chemicals, in the pan of a steam boiler of the form used by farmers to cook 
food for cattle. This boiler was found unfit for the purpose, as the temperature of the 
juice could not be raised in it above 108° C. A small pan was made, similar in construc- 
tion to a Cook's evaporator, but furnished with a double bottom. The steam space in 
the bottom was about two inches high, and was connected with one of the boilers in the 
chemical laboratory. The object was to test the feasibility of evaporating the juice by 
steam under pressure with shallow pans. 

In the experiments which follow the juice was either evaporated directly after it came 
from the mill, i. e. , without the use of reagents, or after it had been submitted to clari- 
fying processes. In the first the juice is designated in the experiments as not clarified, 
in the second as clarified, defecated, or neutralized. 

THE EXPEKIMENTS. 

1. Early Amber. — September 18. Cane, very ripe and down; juice, not clarified — evap- 
orated to a sirup which upon cooling weighed 11 pounds to the gallon. It was of a light 
color and had a distinct sorghum taste. Stalks, stripped and topped, yielded 48 per cent, 
of juice, having a specific gravity of 1.066. The sugar, not crystallized. 

2. Early Amber,— -September 20. Juice defecated. As the juice was brought from 
the mill milk of lime was added, little at a time, until a piece of red litmus paper 
would change to purple when dipped into the juice. Then a solution of tannic acid, and 
finally gelatine was added. The juice was then boijed and well skimmed and concen- 
trated to sirup. The sirup was scorched and had a taste of extract of licorice. A small 
portion of the sirup evaporated to almost candy was readily crystallized. 

3. Early Amber. — September 21. Juice not clarified. The evaporation was continued 
until the sirup upon cooling weighed 11 pounds. The sugar did not crystallize. 

4. Early Amber. — September 22. Juice made alkaline with lime, and then neutral- 
ized with sulphate of alumina. Concentrated to a sirup that weighed when cooled be- 
tween 11 and 11^ pounds. Sugar crystallized. 

Before expressing the juice for this experiment the rollers were moved closer together 
and the cane crushed so much that the bagasse as it came out fell in pieces. Fifty-one 
per cent, of juice was obtained with a specific gravity of 1.068. One row of cane (0.037 
acres) was taken for this experiment, producing 23 gallons juice, from which was made 
3.17 gallons sirup, weighing llf pounds per gallon. Calculating from this data, an acre 
of the Early Amber would yield 624.2 gallons of juice, or 86.1 gallons of sirup. 

5. Orange. — September 23. Juice neutralized with milk of lime; afterwards tannin 
and gelatine added; evaporated to a sirup of 12 pounds to the gallon; sirup dark. The 
sugar commenced crystallizing in a few days. Three weeks afterwards the sugar was 
separated from the sirup by a centrifugal separator. Sugar brown. 

In this experiment 360 pounds of topped and stripped stalks were used, producing 155 
pounds of juice (43 per cent.); 28 pounds sirup (7.78 per cent, of the stalks and 18.04 
per cent, of the juice); 13£ pounds sugar (3.8 per cent, of stalks, 8.87 per cent, of juice, 
49.1 per cent, sirup). 

One row (.0398 acres) yielded 30 pounds juice. Calculating the yield of an acre from 
these data we have 754 gallons juice, 120.6 gallons, or 1,447.2 pounds sirup, and 710.67 
pounds sugar. 

6. Orange. — September 24. Juice neutralized with lime, and a few drops of tannin 
added to every 10 gallons juice; then one-eighth ounce gelatine, and afterwards a little 
sulphate of alumina. Juice evaporated to a sirup of 11 pounds to the gallon; color very 
light. Sugar began crystallizing after standing two days. 

7. Orange. — September 27. Juice neutralized with lime, and concentrated to a sirup 
of 11 to 12 pounds per gallon. Sugar readily crystallized. 

8. Orange. — September 27. Juice neutralized with milk of lime; sulphurous acid was 
added to combine with any lime remaining uncombined in the juice. The sugar began 
crystallizing as the sirup was cold. 

9. Orange. — October 1. Juice defecated with lime and sulphate of alumina. Sugar 
began crystallizing after three days. In this experiment stripped and topped stalks 
were used, yielding 54.2 per cent, of juice; specific gravity, 1.076. 

10. Orange. — October 1. Juice evaporated without defecation. The sirup, after stand- 
ing about five weeks, had but few crystals of sugar. In a subsequent analysis of this 
sirup (see analysis of sirup No. 4) there was found to be 38. 9 per cent, of cane sugar and 
26.91 per cent, of grape sugar. 



SGRGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



115 



11. Orange. — Juice not defecated; evaporated to a sirup of 12 pounds to the gallon. 
The sugar has not crystallized. 

12. Amber. — Juice defecated with lime and sulphate of alumina. The juice was 
quite acid as it came from the mill. Sirup "black. Sugar crystallized. 

Finding that some of the sirup whose juice had not been defecated did not crystallize, 
it was thought that perhaps a further concentration would cause the sugar to crystallize. 
For this purpose the sirup produced in experiment No. 3 was selected. In the early part 
of November it was further concentrated in the steam evaporator, but this had no effect 
upon the crystallization of the sugar. 

Finding that the concentration of the sirup did not cause the sugar to crystallize, an 
analysis of several of the sirups was undertaken in order to investigate this subject more 
thoroughly. The following sirups were selected to be analyzed: 

No. 1. Early Amber. — Sirup taken from that made in experiment No. 3. 

No. 2. Sirup of No. 1 subjected to further concentration. 

No. 3. Orange. — Sirup of experiment No. 9, with the crystallized sugar taken out by 
the centrifugal separator. 

No. 4. Orange. — Obtained from the sirup of experiment No. 10. The following were the 
results obtained: 

COMPOSITION" OF SOEGHUM SIRUPS. 



Number. 


Cane sugar. 


Grape sugar. 


Gum. 


Water. 


Ash. 


Total. 


No. 1 


47.22 
45.62 
35.63 
38.9 


14. 70 
20.00 
26.82 
26.91 


6.80 

10.51 

6.75 

7.80 


29.4 
20.39 
28.67 
24.04 


1.97 
3.78 
1.40 . 
1.75 


100.1 


No. 2 


100.3 


No. 3 


99.27 


No. 4 


96. 40 







The cause of the large per cent, of ash shown by No. 2 was undoubtedly the lime 
added to neutralize the sirup before the second concentration. 

From the proximate analysis of the cane it appears that one acre of sorghum produces 
2,559 pounds of cane sugar. Of this amount we obtained 710 pounds in the form of good 
brown sugar, and 265 pounds were left in the 737 pounds of molasses drained from the 
sugar. Hence 62 per cent, of the total amount of sugar was lost or changed during the 
process of manufacture. This shows that the method of manufacture in general use is 
very imperfect. 

EXPERIMENTS IN SUGAR MAKING IN 1881. 

Last year a large number of experiments were made in order to determine the means 
by which the cane sugar could be made to crystallize. This object was much more 
readily attained than we at first expected, and consequently we selected from those 
experiments the one which was most simple and most likely to be practiceable 
when operating on a large scale. In perfecting this our attention was given to the 
production of sugar and sirup which should be free from the objectionable sorghum 
taste and odor. In this we succeeded perfectly. Sorghum juice in its normal condi- 
tion is acid. The conversion of cane sugar into grape sugar by boiling a solution of 
the same with a strong acid, as sulphuric or hydrochloric, has long been known to 
chemists. All other acids, even the weak organic acids contained in sorghum juice, act 
in a similar manner. Hence it will readily appear why in the ordinary manner of mak- 
ing sorghum sirup so little of the cane sugar originally contained in the juice can be 
made to crystallize. A great deal of the cane sugar is converted into grape sugar during the 
processes of defecation and evaporation, and what remains unchanged is prevented from 
granulating by the undue proportion of grape sugar produced. To avoid this loss of 
cane sugar we neutralize the juice when cold with calcium carbonate or milk of lime, or 
both. This part of the process requires skill and care, as the subsequent defecation of 
the juice depends upon it. After thus neutralizing the juice it is heated to boiling and 
thoroughly defecated. It is then passed through bone-black filters and finally evaporated 
to crystallization. The sugar and molasses obtained by this process are unobjectionable 
in regard to color and taste. 

Experiment 1, August 22, 1881. — The cane selected for this experiment was grown on 
land which had previously been used as a barn-yard, the same as in analyses Nos. 8 and 
14. The seed was nearly ripe and the cane very thrifty. 

Weight of cane crushed ., 1, 560.00 pounds. 

Weight of juice obtained 687.50 pounds. 

Per cent, of j uice 43. 40 

The juice was carefully neutralized with milk of lime, and brought to the boiling 
point in the defecating pan. A very heavy green scum rose, and this being removed the 



116 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

juice was seen to be fall of a green, light fiocculent precipitate, which did not subse- 
quently rise to the top in any considerable quantity. The juice was now drawn off into 
tubs, where it was allowed to repose twelve hours. At the end of this time only about 
one-half of the juice could be drawn off clear, the precipitate being still suspended in 
the remainder. It was found impossible to filter this portion, and it was therefore thrown 
away. The clear juice, after being passed through bone-black, was evaporated in a cop- 
per finishing-pan to the crystallizing point. The melada had a very unpleasant saltish 
taste, owing to the presence of salts of ammonia. The sugar crystallized very readily, 
and although it looked well it still retained somewhat of this saltish taste after being 
separated from the molasses. Unquestionably this excessive amount of albuminoids — 
the green scum and suspended precipitate — was taken up by the plant from the nitroge- 
nous elements of the manure, and the saltish taste was due to ammonium salts which 
came from the same source. 

Manure therefore not only has a deleterious effect upon the development of sugar in 
cane, but it also prevents the thorough defecation of the juice which is necessary to the 
manufacture of sugar. 

Experiment 2, August 25. — Cane same as that of which analyses Nos. 15 and 16 were 
made. Size of field, three-sixteenths of an acre. 

CALCULATIONS FOE ONE ACRE. 

Pound 

Stripped cane with tops 18, 535. 3 

Stripped cane without tops 15, 765. 9 

Weight of juice obtained 6, 545. 6 

Per cent, of juice of stripped and topped cane 41. 52 

Weight of melada from juice 1, 298. 7 

Weight of melada from bagasse : 253. 9 

Total weight of melada 1, 552. 6 

Weight of sugar from juice 504. 

Weight of sugar from bagasse 104. 7 

Total weight of sugar 608.7 

Weight of molasses from juice 794. 7 

Weight of molasses from bagasse 149. 2 

Total weight of molasses : 943. 9 

Calculations for one ton of topped and stripped cane: 

Weight of juice 830.4 

Weight of sugar L 77. 2 

Weight of molasses 119. 7 

To obtain the sugar from the bagasse it was packed in large barrels as it left the mill 
and was exhausted with water. The percolate thus obtained was treated like juice. 

Experiment No. 3, September 17. — Early Amber; obtained from universty farm; volun- 
teer growth among the corn; seed ripe; cane mostly blown down. 

Pounds. 

Weight of stripped and topped cane 1, 440 

Weight of juice 637 

Per cent, of juice , 44. 2 

Weight of melada obtained 145. 8 

Experiment No. 4. — Early Amber, grown upon university farm: 

Weight of stripped and topped cane 1, 661. 

Weight of juice obtained . 603. 5 

Per cent, of juice 36.33 

Weight of melada from juice 95. 5 

Weight of melada from bagasse 13. 5 

Sugar from juice 41. 5 

Sugar from bagasse 6. 

Molasses from juice 54. 

Molasses from bagasse 7. 5 

In the last two experiments the cane was poorly developed and full of suckers, and 
consequently poorly adapted for the production of sugar. 

GLUCOSE FROM SORGHUM SEED. 

Our experiments have shown that as good glucose can be made from the seed of sor- 
ghum as from any other starchy substance. The yield of glucose or grape sugar is three- 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 117 

fourths or more of the weight of seed employed. The tannin does not interfere, as it is 
converted into glucose by the same means which are used to convert the starch, namely, 
boiling with dilute acids. 

EECEIPTS AND EXPENSES OF ONE ACBE OF SOEGHUM. 

On the basis of the results actually obtained as described in the foregoing pages, we 
have calculated the receipts, and from the best data at hand the expenses, for one acre 
of sorghum. 

Balance sheet. 

RECEIPTS FROM SUGAR AND MOLASSES. 

600 lbs. sugar at 7 cents $42 00 

85 gallons molasses 34 00 

$76 00 

EXPENSES. 

Cultivating one acre $10 00 

Stripping and cutting 2 50 

Hauling 6 00 

Four days labor 6 00 

Fuel 1 00 

Barrels 4 00 

Freight and drayage 8 00 

37 50 

Net profit on sugar and molasses $38 50 

RECEIPTS FROM GLUCOSE. 

1,250 lbs. glucose at 2 cents $25 00 

EXPENSES. 

Gathering seed $2 00 

Fuel 1 50 

Labor 1 00 

Barrels 4 00 

$9 50 

Net profit on glucose '. 15 50 

Total net profit on one acre of sorghum 54 00 

General Conclusions. 

1. Seed should be planted as early as possible. 

2. The proper time to begin cutting the cane for making sugar is when the seed is in 
the hardening dough. 

3. The cane should be worked up as soon as possible after cutting. Cane which is cut 
in the afternoon or evening may safely be worked up the following morning. 

4. The manufacture of sugar can be conducted properly only with improved apparatus 
and on a scale which would justify the erection of steam sugar- works, with vacuum- 
pans, steam defecators and evaporators, and the employment of a competent chemist to 
superintend the business. The same is true for the manufacture of glucose from the 
seed. Our experiments were made with the ordinary apparatus used in manufacturing 
sorghum sirup, and any person who desired to work on a small scale could use the 
methods with good results, provided he had acquired the necessary skill in neutralizing 
and defecating the juice and in the treatment of bone-black filters. The manufacture 
of glucose on a small scale is entirely out of the question. Five hundred to a thousand 
acres of sorghum would be sufficient to justify the erection of steam sugar- works, and 
this amount could easily be raised in almost any community within a radius of one or 
two miles from the works. 



118 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

11.— LETTER FROM H. A. WEBER TO PROFESSOR SILLIMAN. 

Illinois Industrial University Chemical Department, 

Champaign, III. , March 18, 1882. 
Sir: Your circular asking for communications in regard to the " sorghum industry " 
is at hand. 

Have sent you by to-day's mail a report of experiments in this line made by my col- 
league and myself, and hope that you may find something in it which will be of interest 
to you. In regard to the analytical as well as practical investigations it may be proper 
for me to state that they were our own personal work, and that we at least are satisfied 
of the correctness of the results as given. 

A stock company has been formed here for the purpose of erecting steam sugar- works 
to test this matter on a commercial scale the coming season. 
Yours, respectfully, 

H. A. WEBER. 
B. Silliman, New Haven, Conn. 



12.— LETTERS FROM A. J. RUSSELL, JANESVILLE, WIS. 

[A. J. Russell, President of Wisconsin Amber Cane Growers' and Manufacturers' Association, and 
Chairman of Committee for the Purchase of Seed and Sugar Machinery. A. J. Russell, J. Boub. 
Office of Excelsior Amber Cane, Sirup, and Sugar Works, A. J. Russell & Co., Proprietors.] 

Janesville, Wis., December 28, 1881. 

Dear Sir: Your valued favor of the 26th at hand, and in reply to the several ques- 
tions contained therein I would state that the yield of stripped stalks of cane per acre 
depends upon the quality of the seed, soil, and fertilizers used, method of planting, 
thoroughness of cultivation, and the season for growing the cane. 

We have received at our works here and at other works I have been interested in from 
7 to 20 tons per acre the "same season." 

The yield of sirup per ton varies from 9 to 20 gallons according to the strength of the 
juice and the ability of the mill used in crushing the cane, so as to obtain the largest 
percentage of juice, and the economy of the mechanical appliances used in reducing the 
juice to proof or sugar density. 

The yield of sugar, per ton, depends upon the amount of sucrose contained in the 
juice; the machinery used in reducing the juice to the required density, with the least 
destruction of the sugar, and the ability of the operator to handle the appliances used 
so as to separate and remove all the impurities that obstruct granulation, and varies 
from 7 to 9 J pounds per gallon of sirup. 

Owing to the farmers having an imperfect knowledge of the proper care of cane, and 
a well-developed system of planting and fertilizing to obtain the best results, the aver- 
age has only been 10 tons of cane per acre, and 14 gallons of sirup per ton, and 7^ pounds 
of sugar per gallon. 

The sugar cost, to produce the cane and deliver at the mill, and manufacture and 
barrel it, ready for market, including cost of barrels, 2| cents per pound. From the ex- 
perience of some of our most practical farmers in growing the cane, we are confident 
they can produce 20 tons per acre, in most of the seasons, and our experience in manu- 
facturing determined the fact to our satisfaction that we can, in good corn-growing 
seasons, produce from cane grown on proper soil, where the required fertilizers have 
been used, [produce], 17 gallons of sirup of sugar density per ton, and 9£ pounds of 
sugar per gallon, with the right kind of machinery, by taking out the first and second 
and possibly the third crop of crystals. The drainage syrup left will be a good com- 
mercial article, and if the farmers will save their seed, which they can do as cheaply as 
they can oats, they can obtain from 25 to 35 bushels of threshed seed per acre; and those 
who have fed it to their stock pronounce it of more value than oats as feed. If the man- 
ufacturer purchases the cane from the farmers by the ton, the cost of the sugar will be 
correspondingly greater, but not to exceed 3^ cents per pound. 
Respectfully yours, 

A. J. RUSSELL, 

To Hon. Geo. B. Loring, 
i Commissioner of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 119 

Janesville, Wis., 3, 22, 1882. 

Dear Sir: In reply to your favor of the 13th would say, that I have ohtained, with 
good machinery, 280 gallons of sirup per acre and 7£ pounds of sugar per gallon. Sugar 
sold for 9 and 10 cents per pound; sirup in job lots to wholesalers at 50 cents per gal- 
lon. The sugar was a very light yellow, polarized 96. 6. The sirup was a very light 
straw color, transparent, and free from all sorgo or foreign flavor, and was placed in 
front rank, with New Orleans molasses (choice). 

The above is from my own practical experience without any patented u process." 
The yield of seed is from 25 to 40 bushels per acre, and is used for all classes of stock, 
and sells at 50 cents per bushel. Data as to cost of raising the cane and delivered at the 
mill, 3 miles, which is as far as it is practical to haul, also cost of steam, or fire trains, 
that has produced the sugar and sirup that obtained the premiums at the convention; 
cost of manufacturing on either steam or fire train; cost of Central Sugar Works fitted 
up completely for making sugar and sirup and working to sugar; semi-sirup made by 
small sirup outfits, will be willingly made out on application, if the information is de- 
sired ; also, cost of manufacturing sugar, &c. , based only from my own j>ractical ex- 
perience. 

Respectfully yours, 

A. J. RUSSELL, 

Janesville, Wis. 

B. SlLLiMAN, Esq. , New Raven, Conn. 



13.— CRYSTAL LAKE REFINES, Y. 

Chicago, April 10, 1882. 

Dear Sir: Seeing the invitation in the Rural World to those interested in the sorghum 
sugar-cane, and thinking perhaps my experience may be of interest to you, I herewith 
give you a detailed account of my doings of the past three years. 

In the first place let me state to you I am a practical sugar-refiner; spent some eight 
years in the West Indies making sugar from cane. So you will perceive I came here 
well armed in the knowledge of the business of sugar-making. In August, 1879, I saw 
sorghum for the first time, and although the works were put up by inexperienced per- 
sons, besides being so near the time for grinding the cane, we had not much chance to 
make the necessary alterations, so had to get along as well as we could; and as the cane 
was new to me, and I had little or no faith in its sugar-producing qualities, I resolved to 
treat it with as much delicacy as a mother would her sick child. 

I used onty lime for defecating, and made good defecations, equal to the juice from 
southern cane. I had not polarized the juice, but the defecated juice, while running 
from the defecators, looked and smeiled so natural that I was convinced there was sugar 
in it; then, reducing it to about 38° B., was obliged to keep it in tanks nearly one month 
before our vacuum-pan was ready, when I reduced it to sugar. I polarized this sirup, 
which showed 53 per cent. , and am satisfied a good deal of the sugar it contained when 
fresh had become inverted, as the sirup was slightly acid when we boiled it down to 
sugar. 

Notwithstanding it was boiled at a temperature of 180° Fahr. in the vacuum-pan, in 
consequence of a short supply of water for condensation, I could readily grain it in the 
pan. That fact alone should decide the question whether sorghum will successfully pro- 
duce sugar. After the sugar had remained in the crystallizing tanks 48 hours it was so 
hard that a man weighing 180 pounds had great difficulty in pushing a spade through 
it. General Le Due, Malcolm McDowell, and others can testify to that fact, as they 
were eye-witnesses. 

In consequence of the vacuum-pan boiling the sugar so hot, and not being familiar 
with the juice, and wishing to get as large a yield of sugar as possible, I boiled it rather 
stiff, which made the grain finer than I wished it; but to the experienced that did not 
detract one iota from its strength. I continued to run till I had made over 50,000 pounds 
of sugar. In appearance it was good C sugar. It was tested in Boston and New York, 
and showed 96*r per cent, of sugar. The above was accomplished in the fall of 1879. 
We generally designate sugar machinery on a plantation as machinery, but I fail to find 
a suitable name for the "plant " I had. 

in 1880 we had made alterations, in order to do some pretty good work, planted about 
300 acres of cane, and a month before it matured it was struck by a hurricane and dam- 
aged to such an extent that we received only the product of 30 acres. That mixed with 
dead cane, rendering the juice so bad, that the sirup only polarizedabout 42 per cent. *, 



120 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

"boiled some for sugar, but finding it very gummy, abandoned the idea, and made only 
sirup. Thus ends the chapter for 1880. In 1881 the spring was so backward our cane 
hardly matured, and the sirup from it polarized about the same as the previous year 
(42? per cent.). Having such bad luck the past two years at Crystal Lake, 111., where 
the above experiments were tried at the works of F. A. Waidner & Co. , we have con- 
cluded to abandon any further work at the above place. I should here state that Crys- 
tal Lake is the most elevated section in the State of Illinois, which makes raising a crop 
there rather uncertain; although the old residents of the place say they never experi- 
enced two such years with sorghum as 1880 and 1881 ; indeed that is the general verdict 
throughout the country. Crystal Lake is situated about 44 miles north of Chicago. I 
am interested in a large works at Hoopeston, 111. , which is attached to a corn canning 
establishment erected for the purpose of utilizing the cornstalks. That we found was 
no go, as the stalks had but little juice; could not produce enough sirup to pay expenses. 
I consider the cornstalks had a thorough test. We found only about a foot or a foot and 
a half of the stalk to contain juice; the rest was a dry pith. At the time, the corn was 
in the roasting ear. The cornstalks were tested in 1880. In 1881 we cultivated 500 
acres of sorgo, and the drought was so severe we only got about 2f tons to the acre, in- 
stead of from 10 to 20. Cane was very thin, and in some instances not over 2 or 3 feet 
long; sirup only polarizing 40; did not attempt to make sugar. This year we are 
putting under cultivation at Hoopeston 1, 000 acres. We sold all of our product last year, 
by the car-load, in this city at 50 cents per gallon. 

Notwithstanding I have been here three seasons, I have not had a single day's fair 
trial of sorgo juice. With the plant of machinery we have at Hoopeston now to work up 
juice such as I had in 1879, I am sure the results I could produce would astonish the 
country. 

I am satisfied of one thing, that the cultivation of the cane is not thoroughly under- 
stood. One great drawback here has been the want of proper machinery and a knowl- 
edge how to treat the juice. They imagine all that is necessary is to boil out the water 
and let nature do the rest. 

I have been a very careful student for the last three years; and consider myself now 
familiar with the juice, and just want one fair chance. They were thirteen years in 
Louisiana before they could successfully make sugar from the Ribbon cane. We did it 
here in six weeks. If there are any questions I can answer for you I shall be delighted 
to do so. 

Please acknowledge the receipt of this letter and oblige 

JOHN B. THOMS. 

B. SiLLlMAN, Esq., Nnc Haven, Conn. 



Ceystal Lake Refinery, 
Nos. 231 and 233 South Watee Steeet, 

Chicago, April 10, 1882. 

Deae Sie: I had just finished the inclosed effusion when your letter of the 7th came 
to hand, so will send it as it is written, adding the further information you require. 

The juice in 1879 weighed about 85° Baume; did not polar!; e the juice. From a gal- 
lon of sirup, weighing 11 pounds, we got a yield of about 4.y pounds of C sugar from the 
gallon, and about 46 per cent, of a gallon of sirup weighing 11} pounds (to the gallon). 
As the cane crusher was a very miserable affair, we could not squeeze the cane enough, 
and as no account was kept of the yield of juice, cannot give the percentage. In other 
words, the works were so miserably arranged it was almost impossible to do anything 
with system. After I was in a position to keep an account of the yield of sirup per toil 
I have received as high as 23 gallons and as low as 15 gallons of sirup, weighing 1 Im- 
pounds to the gallon, from a ton of cane. The difference in the yield was occasioned by 
the different densities of the juice. The sirup that produced the 4J pounds of sugar to 
the gallon polarized 53. I have never worked any other cane but the Early Amber. 
An acre of land has produced, to my knowledge, as high as 21 tons of stripped cane; 
presume a fair average yield would be 12 tons to the acre. The way we work at Hoopes- 
ton is as follows: We lease the land at $4 per acre, and pay a farmer $8 per acre for 
cultivating and delivering cane to mill unstripped. That seems to satisfy the farmer, 
and gives us cane at a low figure. We also will pay $2 per ton for cane delivered at mill. 
I do not strip the cane, but think it would improve it to do so; I think an average crop of 
cane will pay a farmer better than raising corn. 

I would not like to state at what stage a maximum of sucrose may be found, but 
would advance the idea, just as it is growing ripe. The cane, in some districts, deteri- 
orates very rapidly after being cut. I have kept cane for nearly a month, during cold 
weather, in Kanpas. which did not deteriorate any more than cane cut three days at 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 121 

Crystal Lake. Cane should be worked up as soon after being cut as possible. The juice 
spoils more rapidly if the cane is allowed to stand in the ground with the seed top cut 
off. The juice defecates about the same as Southern cane juice, but in clarifying it pro- 
duces more scum, and, as compared with Southern juice, it contains more foreign mat- 
ter. I have used sulphurous acid, which is good in this way: It enables us to use more 
lime in the defecation, but could produce a better yield of sugar without it, as I have 
given it a thorough test. Sirup made with sulphurous acid turns sour much quicker 
than without. I prefer the sulphur fumes ; when I use the sulphur fumes I use lime 
enough only to neutralize the acid in the juice before receiving the sulphur fumes. We 
cannot make a thorough defecation with lime, and reduce it to sirup density, without 
making very dark sirup, unless we use sulphurous acid or sulphur fumes. With the 
use of lime I eliminate the sorghum tang and make the sirup a perfectly neutral sweet. 
You will please understand that there is a difference between a clarified sirup and a 
defecated sirup — the latter is made by using a defecating agent, while the former is 
simply accomplished by boiling and skimming. Of course the clarified sirup, such as 
the farmers make, would not yield as much sugar as the iuice properly handled, with 
the use of lime. I have not yet met a single person here in the West who has the 
slighest idea how to treat the sorgo juice for sugar. I find the j uice more delicate than 
the Southern cane juice to handle. The way I work is as follows: As the juice comes 
from the mill it is passed through sulphur fumes, run into tanks, of which there are 
four, holding about 600 gallons each. After having settled, the juice is run into the 
clarifier, where it is limed, defecated, and clarified. This clarifier holds the contents of 
a tank, so that when it is charged it empties the tank. After the juice has been clari- 
fied it is run into the evaporator, where the cleansing is finished, boiled down to about 
20 B. , run into settling tanks, thence to the vacuum-pan, where it is reduced to sugar 
or sirup; from thence, if boiled for sugar, is run into crystallizing tanks, then purged 
of its sirup in the centrifugals. To work 100 tons of cane per twenty-four hours, the 
expense will be as follows (I should here remark that the cost to produce sugar will be 
no greater than simply to make sirup, for should you get 4 pounds of sugar from a 
gallon of sirup, you have but 50 per cent, of sirup left, and the difference in the cost of 
the sirup packages and the sugar barrels will more than pay for the extra labor; I will 
add coal to the expense, the use of which, in some instances, is superfluous, for the 
bagasse, or refuse cane, is ample for fuel; for after the bagasse is spread in the sun, one 
or two days' drying makes it an excellent fuel) : 

100 tons cane, at $1.50 per ton $150 00 

12 men, feeding mill, at $1.50 per day 18 00 

2 men, engineer and assistant, at $4.50 per day 9 00 

4 men, firemen, at $1.50 per day 6 00 

4 men, hauling bagasse, at $2. 50 per day 10 00 

2 men, clarifiers, at $1.50 per day 3 00 

2 men, evaporators, at $1.50 per day 3 00 

2 men, juice tanks, at $1.25 per day' 2 50 

1 man, fill sirup barrels, at $1.25 per day 1 25 

5 tons coal, at $3.50 perton 17 50 

30 sirup barrels, at $1.40 each 42 00 

Incidentals 10 00 

Total expense to work 100 tons cane for 24 hours 272 25 

You will perceive from the above calculation that the sirup will cost 18.15 cents per 
gallon, taking 15 gallons' yield to the ton. Should the yield be larger, it will reduce 
the cost accordingly. Say the yield be 18 gallons to the ton, you add the extra cost of 
packages, and it reduces the cost of sirup to 15.59 cents per gallon, and as our sirup 
readily sold at 50 cents a gallon, in 300-barrel lots, you will perceive the margin is 
large enough to enable us to pay more for our cane, if needs be. 

To ignore sugar entirely, I know of no business that pays as well, and I know of no 
better place to work this business than Texas or Kansas, prefer the former, as the prod- 
uct could be shipped directly to New York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore at a less cost 
than the charge of transporting 300 miles from Kansas by railroad. 

Hoping the voluminous appearance of this letter will not frighten you, if there is any- 
thing I have omitted which you desire to know, command me. 
Respectfully, 

JOHN B. THOMS. 

B. SlLLlMAN, Esq., New Haven, Conn. 



122 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

14.— LETTER OF GEORGE W. CHAPMAN, STERLING, KANS. 

Sterling, Price Co., Kansas, Feb. 6, 1882. 

Dear Sir: Will you please send me your report of 1881? As sugar-cane is very pro- 
lific here, I imagine it would be of vast importance to us, and would like to have the 
following seeds: The Red Brazilian artichoke, Chinese, White Liberian, Mammoth, and 
any other good sugar-cane seed. I am also anxious to try some cotton and Beauty of 
Hebron potato. 

I worked up last season 75 acres of cane, Amber and Honduras. Amber yielded 
9 tons stripped and topped, and the Honduras 33| tons raw stalk per acre, being the 
largest yield of cane yet known in Kansas. I can substantiate the above yield by the 
affidavits of four responsible men, and in this vicinity no one disputes it who has seen it. 
If a fall report of cultivation, &c. , will be of any value to you, I will forward the same. 
I made some sirup by an evaporator and it all granulated in a solid. 

Can you give us some information where we might prevail in getting some capitalists 
to come and develop scientifically the manufacture of sugar ? 

Kansas can grow the deficit if it can be manufactured. 

If you have any improved methods or seed of any kind, we will feel highly pleased 
to receive it. 

Your obedient servant, 

GEO. W. CHAPMAN, 
Secretary Price County Farmers' Club. 

P. O. box 170. 

Commissioner of Agriculture. 



lb.— LETTER OF JOEL M. CLARK, ITALY HOLLOW, N. Y. 

Italy Hollow, N. Y., March 8, 1882. 

Sir : The Amber sugar-cane seed that I received from the Department of Agriculture 
on the 17th day or April, 1881, 1 planted on the 13th day of May last upon dark gravelly 
soil — planted in drills 3 } feet apart; used no fertilizer except ashes, which I used at the 
rate of about 12 to 15 bushels per acre. Cultivated and hoed twice, same as corn. At 
second hoeing pulled off the suckers, and on the 14th day of September I commenced cut- 
ting the cane for sirup, which was from 9 to 11 feet high; the heads were very dark color, 
the seed hard and appeared to be fully ripe. The yield was 13£ tons cane per acre, from 
which I made 18^ gallons of beautiful sirup per ton, pronounced by dealers equal to 
the best sirup in the market. From the sirup I obtained a large per cent, of crystal- 
lized sugar, which was very satisfactory. I also obtained about 20 bushels of seed per 
acre. 

Whole experiment entirely successful. There will be from 40 to 60 acres planted in 
this town the coming season. 
Respectfully yours, 

JOEL M. CLARK. 

Commissioner of Agriculture, Washington. 



16.— JOSEPH WHARTON; HIS POOR SUCCESS WITH BEETS FOR SUGAR; 
SORGHU3I PROMISES BETTER. (LETTER TO THE CHAIRMAN.) 

American Nickel Works, 

Camden, N J, April 8, 1882. 

Dear Sir: Your inquiry of 4th instant as to results attained in my (beet) sugar ex- 
periments at Balsto is received. Those results were but negative. 

The first year I selected a level piece of sandy ground, similar to most South Jersey 
land, and dividing it into a number of parallel strips manured them with various fertil- 
izers, namely, barn-yard manure, green sand marl, kainite, fish scrap, and swamp muck. 
The beet seeds were planted, at different dates, across the other strips. 

Cultivation was carefully attended to ; but the crop was very light, though part of it 
was about 8 per cent, in sugar. No results could be deduced from the variety of fertil- 
izers, the crop being generally poor. 

The second year I employed Mr. Gaston Barbier, who had had charge of a beet farm in 



SORGHUM SUGAK INDUSTRY. 123 

Prance, to manage the affair from early spring, viz, the preparation of ground, until the 
crop was gathered. The seeds I bought direct from a famous beet-seed cultivator in 
Saxony and every detail was left without restriction of expense to Mr. Barbier, who con- 
fidently expected a good yield of beets and of sugar. Again the crop failed, and more 
signally than before. After that, instead of putting in 10 of 15 acres, my farm manager 
has planted but a few in the garden, and has merely raised a few beets for the table. 

My judgment is that the soil of South Jersey, or at least that part of it where sand is 
underlaid with gravel, is really too poor to carry a good crop of beets, even when well 
manured: also, that the climate of that region is unsuitable, because a dry spell usually 
comes on after the plants have fairly set and begun to grow vigorously; this checks and 
stunts the growth, prevents the leaves from spreading over the ground in such way as to serve 
as mulching, and the continued drought has full opportunity to dry out the light soil. 
Where the beets survive this trial and attain a certain magnitude, they take a second 
growth upon being thoroughly wetted by later rains, and that destroys the normal texture 
of the beet, causing it to be fibrous, watery, and low in saccharine. 

Cattle fed upon either the beets or upon the ' ' pugs, ' ' that is, the roots after rasping 
upon a French machine and draining in a centrifugal, did not thrive or fatten very well; 
they inclined to scour and were not solid in flesh. 

Sorghum promises much better and I have some faith in the possibility of South Jersey 
to produce sugar from it to advantage; the plant grows well with just such soil and treat- 
ment as maize. 

Yours truly, 

JOSEPH WHARTON. 

Prof. B. Silliman. 



17.— LETTER OF J. F. PORTER. 

Red Wing, Minn., November 5, 1881. 

Dear Sir: Yours of November 1 received. The season of 1880 was my first experi- 
ence in the sugar business. That year I made about 4,000 pounds; sold it for 9 cents 
per pound. This year I have made some, but a very small amount. This was made in 
the forepart of the season before bad weather set in; after that the percentage of sugar 
was so small I abandoned the idea of making sugar. I- have made this season 10,300 
gallons of sirup, most of which is an excellent quality and is selling for 45 and 50 cents 
per gallon by the barrel. Don't know of anv one else that has made any sugar in 1880 
and 1881. 

Yours truly, 

J. F. PORTER. 
Mr. Peter Collier, 

Washington, D. C. 



IS.— LETTER OF BLYMEYR MANUFACTURING COMPANY. 

Blymyer Manufacturing Company, 

Cincinnati, March 15, 1882. 

Dear Sir: Your circular noted. We mail our sugar H. B. ; also circular of ma- 
chinery. 

That sugar can be made from several varieties of sorghum is of course established. 
We have known of its being made by the barrel as far back as 1862. We have known 
several farmers who have made one or more barrels of it several consecutive years. It 
remains to be seen whether sorghum can be depended upon for sugar as it is for good 
sirup. 

The enormous value of the sorghum crop even in sirup would, we suppose, astonish 
the country if reliable statistics could be had. There is certainly warrant enough 
in what has already been done in sugar-making to justify special scientific investigation. 
Yours truly, 

BLYMYER MANUFACTURING COMPANY. 
Mr. B. SlLLIMAN, 

New Haven, Conn. 



124 SOEGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

19.— LETTER OF H W. WILEY. 

The La Fayette Sugae Refinery, 

La Fayette, Ind. , April 3, 1882. 

Dear Sir : I would suggest that in the investigations of your committee especial atten- 
tion be given to the influence of sulphurous acid on the color, flavor, and quality of the 
product. ' Also the solubility of the lime compounds formed by the neutralization of the 
acids of the juice, and the possibility of removing them wholly from the finished products. 
If your final report could be delayed until next winter it would give an excellent op- 
portunity for the investigation of some of these unsolved problems during the coming 
summer and fall. My own investigations in the directions indicated are still too imper- 
fect to lay before your committee, but I hope by another year to have them in a much 
more complete shape. 
All persons interested in sorghum culture will take a lively interest in your labors. 
Respectfully, 

H. W. WILEY. 
Prof. Ben J. Silliman, Chemist, &c. , 

New Haven, Conn. 



20.— LETTER OF JOSEPH ALBRECHT, CHEMIST. 

[From the New Iberia "Sugar Bowl" of September 15, 1881.] 

SORGHUM SUGAR. 

remarks on the report of prof. p. collier, chemist of the agricultural 

department at washington. 

I was always of opinion that no plant could compete with sugar-cane, and that any at- 
tempt to manufacture sugar either from beet-root or sorghum would end in financial 
failure in this country. My opinion was much modified when three years ago I had oc- 
casion to experiment on Amber cane. The plants were in bloom, still the juice of the 
crushed stalks had a density of 12 J° Baum6 and contained 10 per cent, of prismatic sugar 
and 5 per cent, of glucose. I was much astonished at the unexpected richness in sugar 
in that variety of sorghum. 

In a recent visit to the Agricultural Department in Washington I had the good fortune 
to become acquainted with Prof. Peter Collier, who kindly introduced me into his labo- 
ratory. There he pointed out to me many samples of sugar made from as many varieties 
of sorghum and of cornstalks; described his mode of expressing and clarifying the juice, 
of boiling it into sugar; he also explained to me his method of analyzing for saccharose 
and glucose, which he pursued from the earliest apparition of the stalk until after ripening 
of the seed. He showed me his voluminous manuscript, proving by numberless care- 
fully executed analyses that certain varieties of sorghum can develop as much sugar as 
the true sugar-cane of the South, and that he succeeded in determining by continued 
analyses the state in which the j uice has reached its maximum richness in saccharose. The 
astonishing results which the professor obtained in his experiments convinced me that 
sorghum will be the future plant from which the Middle and Northern States will make 
their sugar and molasses, and that the "dream" of Commissioner Le Due, to save the 
country many millions of dollars which now go to foreign countries, will be ultimately re- 
alized. 

I am now in receipt of the printed ' ' report of analytical and other work done on sor- 
ghum and cornstalks by the chemical division of the Department of Agriculture under 
direction of Commissioner W. G. Le Due, by Peter Collier, chemist. ' ' This report is well 
worth more than a fugitive perusal ; it contains matters of the greatest interest, not only 
to the agricultural and commercial world, but also to the political economist, I may say 
to every man, woman, and child of our country. Professor Collier undertook a work 
which, for its magnitude, thoroughness, and clearness in matters pertaining to the culti- 
vation of sorghum, for the purpose of manufacturing sugar, stands alone and far ahead of 
anything which has been done by the Agricultural Department. 

Commissioner Le Due could not have confided this part of his ' ' dream " to a more able 
and enthusiastic man than Prof. P. Collier. Never before has a plant been so carefully 
studied in all its phases in the development of saccharine matter, together with the sci- 
entific determination of other substances besides saccharose which interfere more or less 
in the manufacture of sugar. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 125 

The amount of labor, patience, and scientific skill bestowed on this work can scarcely 
"be estimated by the average readers, but suffice it to say that the author solved the prob- 
lem of making sugar economically from certain species of sorghum, and fixed the period 
of growth at which the stalks are the ripest for the mill. With this report in hand, the 
planter and sugar-maker have a sure guide of the growth and gradual development of 
sugar in the cane, and need no more waste their time and money in experimental groping 
in the dark. 

The cultivation of the richest variety of sorghum will henceforth become more and 
more extended, until it will supply the wants of the whole country. With the help of 
the description and the thirteen plates of very neatly executed wood-cuts with which 
the report is adorned it will be easy to determine the variety of sorghum experimented 
on; but the most important part of this work are the careful analyses of the laboratory, 
demonstrating the period at which the juice of each particular variety of sorghum or 
corn contains the most crystallizable sugar which could be profitably separated. 

Not less valuable are the synoptical tables of the varieties of sorghum cultivated at 
the Department of Agriculture, showing the average composition in each stage of their 
growth, and the graphical plates, revealing at a glance the whole history of the changes 
of the juice in the different varieties; the development of saccharose, glucose, and other 
solid matter is made visible at once as the plant progresses towards maturity, render- 
ing it henceforward easy for the cultivator to judge of the proper time to cut his cane 
for the mill. We know, from our own experience, that the greater the specific gravity 
of the juice the richer it is in saccharose and the less in glucose and other foreign 
matter. 

Professor Collier has made the same observation, and has fixed, as a rule, that when 
the juice has reached the density of 1.066 specific gravity (equal to 9° B.) the stalks 
may be considered ripe enough to be cut for grinding. 

The report contains also a table of comparison of the different hydrometers, which 
will be much appreciated by those who possess not the instruments or other means to 
.ascertain otherwise the specific gravity. 

Considering the cheapness of the seed of the sorghum, the facility of its cultivation, 
the rapidity of its growth, the wide range of climate in which it can be successfully 
raised, and the abundance of seed, with many other advantages over the southern sugar- 
cane, it must engage our serious meditation, and I believe that the prediction that sugar 
and molasses will soon be manufactured from sorghum throughout the United States is 
not too much ventured. 

JOSEPH ALBRECHT, 
CJiemist, 14 Union Street, New Orleans. 



•21.— LETTER FROM 3IR. RANS03I TO THE CHAIR3IAN, IN RESPONSE TO 
AN INQUIRY, OF DATE OCTOBER 22, 1882.* 

Salem, Richardson County, Nebraska, October 22, 1882. 

Dear Sir: Your memorandum is received. 

Balance-sheet for 1881 should foot up as follows to be correct: 

... r, , ~ /Credits $786 20 

14 acres Early Orange : | Expenses 352 50 

Profits 433 70 

That is as it should appear in your appendix — as my results from 14 acres for the 
year 1881 — a season so dry in this section that wheat alongside of it and on just as good 
ground made 2 bushels per acre, and corn 10 bushels, the cane leaving me a net profit of 
$30. 97 per acre, while the wheat and corn made a heavy balance in the wrong column on 
my ledger. 

Now for this fall's work. I am not through yet and can only give you partial 
results. 

Six acres of Amber cane made 183 gallons per acre, which left me a profit of $63.70 
per acre. 

I have 26 acres Early Orange, of which about 6 remain to be worked yet. I think it 
will average about the same, some of it making more per acre and some considerably less. 
A complete balance-sheet will probably change the profits a little on the above figures 
for the 6 acres of Amber. 

* This letter of Mr. Ransom refers to one of earlier date, which follows, and corrects a clerical 
-error in the former statement. 



126 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

I have $1,500 invested in the business (factory). My juice weighs from 10° to 12° B, 
I use 3 gills of milk of lime in the juice tank when about one-fourth full, and the same 
when the same juice is run into the defecator. That is for 150 gallons of juice. In the 
defecator it is brought to 208° Fahr. ; then well skimmed ; then boiled gently to raise 
the heavy brown scum that is taken off. Then the juice is run into settling tanks, where 
one pint of burnt alum water is added. From settling tanks it is drawn from the top 
through swing pipes into the evaporator. I use an open fire train. I find a ready sale 
for my sirup at home at 50 cents per gallon at wholesale, and pay for the barrel. It is- 
granulating now. Some made yesterday (boiled to 220°), was so heavy at 9 p. m. that 
the bottom of the day's run would not go through the perforated tin strainer that we 
use in straining through into a 2, 600 gallon reservoir. I never had any experience in the 
business until two years ago, when I made a failure in my first year's operation. My 
second year's results I give in the first part of this letter, and, if not too late to do you 
any good, I should be pleased to send you a copy of the balance-sheet for 1882 as soon as 
I get through. 

Any information you might be able to give me that would help me to separate the 
sugar from the sirup this fall would be a personal favor, as I am satisfied that I could 
take out several thousand pounds from my reservoir if I knew just how to go about it. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

B. V. RANSOM. 

Prof. B. Silliman, 

New Haven, Conn, 



22.— LETTER FROM B. V. RANSOM, SALEM, NEB. 

[From the Rural World.] 

A SOEGO BALANCE-SHEET AND LAEGEE MILLS. 

Colonel Colman: As Mr. Day has sent you a partial copy of my 1881 balance-sheet for 
publication, perhaps it would be as well to send you the sheet complete, as it will give your 
readers a better understanding of the profits and capital invested from sorgo-growing; 
than they can get from that: 

By sirup sale , $744 20 

By 140 bushels seed, at 30 cents 42 00 

786 20 

Man and team listing 14 acres, 2£ days, at $2 $5 00 

Man and horse drilling seed, 2 days, at $1.50 3 .00 

Man and team harrowing, 3 days, at $2 6 00 

Man and team cultivating, 12 days, at $2 24 00 

14 cords wood, at $4 56 00 

Chemicals, oil, and blacksmith _. 6 00 

Rent of 14 acres grain, at $3 42 00 

Cost paid for labor to manufacture 131 00 

Board of hands 65 00 

352 50* 

Net profit from 14 acres 433 70 

Net profit per acre 30 98 

Net expenses per acre 25 17 

Total yield per acre 56 12 

Net wholesale price per gallon, sirup 50* 

Cost per gallon to manufacture 23 

Net profit per gallon 27 

Capital invested 1,000 00 

Per cent, interest on capital 43 

The figures above are actual results from working on a small scale. My mill was 
entirely too small for the balance of my work. If the capacity of that had been equal, 
the profits on capital invested would have been more than double what they were. 

I used a two-horse mill that weighed about 1,300 pounds. It crushed about half it 
was recommended to per hour, and what is worse it had one weak spot, that is in the 
knife or return plate; and as the strength of any mill is the strength of its weakest. 
place, my mill only worked about half what was claimed for it. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 127 

My cane juice weighed 12° B. during the entire working season. Five gallons of juice- 
made 1 of sirup that when cold marked 42 B., yet I got only 12 gallons of sirup per ton 
of cane. Will Kenny got 12f gallons per ton from cane that the best of it marked only 
9° B. , and run down as low as 3, and Schevrey & Beecher 16 gallons from cane that aver- 
aged 10° B. 

The difference is they use a stronger mill and probably get 50 or 70 per cent, of the 
juice of the cane crushed, while I got only from 30 to 40 per cent. 

B. V. RANSOM. 



23.— LETTER FROM EPHRAIM LINK. 
[Author of " Link's Hybrid."] 
MYSTEEIES OF SORGHUM. 

Colonel Colman: Reading A. S. Folger's article in Rural World of December 29, re- 
minds me of what I have for many years thought, viz, that there are as many mysteries; 
and hidden capabilities in the sorghum family as in any production of the soil. My 
first convictions on this subject grew out of an experiment I made a good many years- 
since, in an attempt to make vinegar out of the juice boiled barely to a clarifying point. 
The result was a mystery, which, however, I did not set out to detail in this article, 
although not without its points in the curious chemistries of the sorghum family. But 
as I may have furnished the seed the Department sent to Mr. Folger, I wish to say that 
perhaps six years since I procured my first Honduras seed from Mississippi, and readily 
found it much superior to any of the varieties I had before cultivated, and discarded 
all others in the endeavor to prevent any hybridization. It remained seemingly pure 
and fully satisfactory for several years, during which time I furnished the Department 
at Washington seed for distribution to the amount, in three years, of 50 bushels or 
more. In my crop of 1879 I saw a good many heads indicating a mixture, for which 
I could not account, and which I had been so careful to avoid, unless the contamination 
occurred the first year, when another variety grew a little distance off. If so, the con- 
taminating principle lay dormant three years and had developed only that year. I sent 
to a friend in Texas for an entire renewal of seed for the planting of the spring of 1880, 
and found that, and the crop of last year, to be very pure, and to ripen two or three 
weeks sooner than the same variety before grown. Here also is a locked mystery I fail 
to understand. Also, four years ago I found a head — a clear sprout in the Honduras, 
entirely different in appearance from it, propagated it, and found its yield and richness 
in juice second to no other, and its sirup freer from the sorghum flavor than any I ever 
made. I sent General Le Due a specimen of the sirup and seed, and he ordered all the 
seed I had, about 14 bushels. In his report of the analysis of varieties he calls it 
" Link's Hybrid." It grows to good size, stands well, ripens before the Honduras, 
and I predict for it a high place among varieties. 

EPHRAIM LINK. 

Greenville, Tenn. * 



24.— LETTER OF ISAAC A. HEDGES, SAINT LOUIS, MO. 

This letter, of date April 12, 1882, to B. Silliman, chairman, accompanying a consid- 
erable collection of samples of sugar, melada, and sirups, being the same which were 
exhibited at the Cane Growers' Association in the previous January at Saint Louis. Mr. 
Hedges' s letter also contains valuable data, to which reference is invited. 

*It will be observed that Mr. Conrad Johnson, in his valuable letter annexed (XVI), makes special 
mention of Dr. Collier's analysis of this variety, the origin of which Mr. Link here explains. 

B. SILLIMAN, Chairman, &c. 



12 8 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

25.— LIST OF SAMPLES EXHIBITED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COM- 

MITTEE. 

[Deposited in National Museum April 19, 1882. ] 

(a.) fbom department of agriculture. 

Sorghum sugar, Department of Agriculture, 1881, 97°. 5 polarization. 

Sorghum sugar, Department of Agriculture, 1881, 92°. 6 polarization. 

Sorghum sugar, Department of Agriculture, 1881, 86°. 4 polarization. 

Cornstalk sugar, Department of Agriculture, 1879, 81°. 6 polarization. 

Pearl millet sugar, Department of Agriculture, 1878, 73°. 4 polarization. 

Sorghum seed, White Mammoth. 

Sorghum seed, Early Amber. 

Sorghum sugar, Professor Swenson, 1881, 96°. 4 polarization. 

Sorghum sugar, A. J. Russell, 1880, 97° polarization. 

Sorghum sugar, Hilgert & Sons, N. J., 3 samples. 

Sorghum sugar, Faribault Refinery, R. Blakeley, Minnesota. 

(B.) FROM THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CANE GROWERS' ASSOCIATION, BY MR. ISAAC 

A. HEDGES. 

Sorghum sugar, A. Folger, Washington, Iowa, 3 samples. 

Sorghum sugar, Clinton Bozarth, Cedar Falls, Iowa. 

Sorghum sugar, Bartlett, 1880. 

Sorghum sugar, Thorp, New Haven, Conn. , 1880. 

Sorghum melada, A. Folger, Washington, Iowa. 

Sorghum melada, Captain Brown, West Baton Rouge, La. 

Sorghum melada, E. W. Deming, Byron, 111. 

Sorghum melada, S. M. Poland, Sandusky, Iowa. 

Sorghum melada, William Frazier, Enterprise, Wis. 

Sorghum melada, No. 3, Virden, 111. 

Sorghum melada, Baton Rouge, La. 

Sorghum melada, L. M. Thayer, Kenosha, Wis. 

Sorghum melada, Thorp, New Haven, Conn, 1880. 

Sorghum melada, Bartlett, North Guilford, 1880. 

Sorghum melada, Clinton Bozarth, Cedar Falls, Iowa. 

Sorghum melada, Jacob Stine, New Madrid, Mo. 

Sorghum melada, Charles Ranch, Virden, 111. 

Sorghum melada, W. D. Clark, Colfax, 111. 

Sorghum melada, J. M. Nash, Hudson, Wis. 

Sorghum melada, N. A. Layton, Giles Mills, N. C. 

Sorghum sirup, L. M. Thayer, Kenosha, Wis. 

Sorghum sirup (B), J. A. Sebold & Co., Great Bend, Kans. 

Sorghum sirup, J. A. Sebold & Co. , Great Bend, Kans. 

Sorghum sirup (A), Oak Hill Refinery, Edwardsville, 111. 

Sorghum sirup, Jesse Allen, Washington, Ohio. 

Sorghum sirup, A. Folger, Washington, Iowa. 

Sorghum sirup, N. A. Layton, Giles Mills, N. C. , 2 samples. 

Sorghum sirup, F. Kingsley, Hebron, Nebr. , 2 samples. 

Sorghum sirup, Port Huron, Mich. 

Sorghum sirup, unknown source. 

Sorghum sirup, Anthony, Kans. 

Sorghum sirup, Ovid, Mich. 

Sorghum sirup, Seth H. Kenney, Morristown, Minn. 



26.— LETTER FROM THE LATE ISAAC A. HEDGES, EX-PRESIDENT 3IISSIS- 
SIPPI VALLEY CANE GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 

Saint Louts, Mo., April 12, 1882. 

Dear Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge your favor of the 1st instant, inclosing 
circular of sorghum sugar, &c. 

It affords me great pleasure to learn that your enlightened academy have taken the 
investigation of this industry in charge. In the language of our able Commissioner, Dr. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 129 

Loring, " I doubt not much good will come of the investigation." If the products of 
this crop cannot receive your indorsement, after the most rigid scrutiny, then the people 
should know it; but if, however, it should (as I trust it will) come out of the scientific 
crucible with that measure of commendation that it has received at the bands of many 
of our State professors, as well as the commercial public, then capitalists will embark in 
it, and skilled operators will be employed in the business. The results will be the pro- 
duction of an abundance like the best samples I have the pleasure of sending for your 
inspection. 

The several samples I forward to you by express are, with three exceptions, those that 
were delivered to our association at its late meeting by the members who produced them. 
I prefer to forward them mostly in their original packages (especially the sirups) as afford- 
ing you a better evidence of their original quality and genuineness. I have labeled 
some of them with letters and corresponding ones in the explanatory table. I am com- 
pelled to do so because of the lack of any record or printed description to furnish you. 
The four meetings of our association have been, with few exceptions, of new beginners, 
and hence with limited reports to make. This will account for our lack of statistics, or 
recorded essays. I send you a copy of the report of our last proceedings, which, though 
limited, may possess some merit. 

I send you a copy of my third revised edition of ' ' Sugar Canes and their Products, 
Culture, and Manufacture. ' ' 

I call your especial attention to the reports of J. S. Lovering, sugar refiner of Philadel- 
phia, Pa. , as copied in the body of my work, pages 123 to 140. I had the satisfaction of 
examining his samples of sugar and molasses at the time, and can testify to their being 
equal to any of our refined sugars of to-day. 

I will also call your attention to the report of Mr. Charles Belcher, of the Belcher Su- 
gar Refining Company of Saint Louis, on page 173, chapter 14, together with Mr. Thorn's 
(a practical sugar boiler) discussion of Mr. Belcher's report (pp. 173, 174). 

SUGAR SAMPLES. 

Among sugar samples, I will only call your attention to a few of them. 

First. That of Mr. C. Bozarth, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, whose report will be found in a 
copy of the proceedings of our late cane growers' meeting, page 19, to which I will in- 
vite your attention. His simple method and uniform success give to the student of this 
industry greater assurances of ultimate success than the same would from the hand of a 
scientific expert. 

The crystals formed in the Orange cane, so called, will generally be found much 
larger and more cubical in form than the Amber. This latter variety of cane as well 
as the Orange are outgrowths by hybridization of some of the imphees imported into this 
country by Leonard Wray, a sugar master and author then of London, England, in the year 
1857. It will be observed that all of the samples I send you, with one exception, are 
from these two varieties, both of which are the result of mere accidental culture. Their 
superiority is so manifest that they are rapidly superseding all others. 

It is fair to conclude that as soon as the well-directed efforts of the skilled cultivators 
of our State and national agricultural schools are applied to the further development of 
these several varieties of canes by hybridizing, and the selection of seed from precocious 
and well-developed canes only (something which has not yet been practiced, to my knowl- 
edge), then the most satisfactory results must invariably follow. 

SIRUP SAMPLES. 

My principal object in placing in your possession the many samples of sirup is that 
your honorable committee may learn how varied the results are from the same product 
in the hands of so many different operators. This varied quality (the result of want of 
skill and good apparatus) has prevented this sirup from becoming a commercial article. 
(See communications below on this subject.) 

It will be observed that in all cases where the samples approach a straw color and 
have been properly treated with an alkali to neutralize the free acid, granulation in a 
greater or less degree has resulted. 

I will call your attention to the large package marked ' ' two years old. ' ' This formed 
no crystals the first season, and now they are peculiar, though not abundant. They are 
characteristic of the Orange cane. 

The introduction of the sulphur fumes in the juice of the sorghum has been tried to 
some extent the past season. I send you three samples, marked A, B, C, and respect- 
fully ask your investigation of the sanitary qualities of each. Sulphur fumes are ex- 
tensively used in Louisiana, and may be beneficial in the sorghum; but there may bo 
danger of an imperfect reaction of the acid, by which a portion is retained in the sirup, 

S. Mis. 51 9 



130 SORGNUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

that may be injurious to health. One of the above samples, I think, indicates that con- 
dition. Hence I am more particular to call your attention to it. 

The proneness of our people to engage precipitously in any new enterprise suggests 
the importance of a censorship somewhere, or rather an umpire, to which doubtful ques- 
tions may be submitted at all times, and particularly in those matters so deeply affect- 
ing the general health and prosperity of the whole nation, as does this industry. 

The following are the communications referred to above, all of which are respectfully 
submitted: 

[Office of Brookmire & Rankin, wholesale grocers, 415, 417, and 419 North Second street and 213 

and 215 Locust street.! 

Saint Louis, April 10, 1882. 

Dear Sir: Your favor of the 10th to hand, and we would reply to your questions as 
follows: 

Question 1. Is there a demand in this region for sorghum sirup as now manufactured ? 

Answer. There is a good demand at all times for sorghum sirup, but the trouble has 
been the want of care in its manufacture and lack of knowledge, the result being goods 
uneven in quality, as well as body, and in many cases scorched. Another great draw- 
back has been bad and dirty cooperage. We are pleased to state, however, that the 
goods bought of you have been No. 1 in quality; cooperage new and uniform, and in 
every way desirable. 

Question 2. From what source does the demand arise, if any? 

Answer. The demand is not confined to any particular locality. A good article is 
wanted from all sections of the country. 

Question 3. How does this sorghum sirup, as now manufactured, compare with other 
sirups and molasses, say " Sugar-House, " "New Orleans Plantation," " New Orleans 
Centrifugal, ' ' and glucose sirups of various names and grades ? 

Answer. The sorghum as you, or rather your friends, make it would class nearer the 
old process New Orleans molasses. It does not class or conflict in any way with sugar, 
corn, or glucose sirups. 
Very respectfully, 

BROOKMIRE & RANKEN. 

Mr. Isaac A. Hedges, 

320 Monroe street, City. 

[Office of Wulfing, Dieekriede & Co., wholesale grocers, Nos. 7, 9, and 11 North Second street.] 

Saint Louis, April 11, 1882. 

Dear Sir : In answer to the inquiries made in your esteemed letter of the 10th instant 
concerning the sale of sorghum molasses, we beg to state that we find the article growing 
in general favor, finding a ready sale where once introduced. 

We think the demand for it is for table use principally, as well as for use of bakers, for 
which purpose it appears as well adapted as the Louisiana Plantation or Centrifugal mo- 
lasses, which latter it approaches nearer to taste than any of the other kinds of sirups in 
the market. 

' In conclusion, would say that we have been well pleased with the sorghum received 
through you, our experience with it being quite satisfactory from a mercantile stand- 
point. 

Yours, truly, 

WULFING, DIECKRIEDE & CO. 

Mr. I. A. Hedges. 

[Office of J. F. Weston, baker, 611 and 613 Morgan street.] 

Saint Louis, April 11, 1882. 

Dear Sir : In answer to your questions, I reply from a baker's standpoint. 
1st. The supply of imported sorghum is not equal to the demand. 
2d. It must, necessarily, take the place of Plantation molasses, which is becoming more 
scarce every year. 

3d. Improved sorghum, in my j udgment, is the only substitute for Plantation molasses. 
All other sirups, either cane or glucose, lack the necessary acid. 
Respectfully, 

J. F. WESTON. 
Isaac A. Hedges, Esq. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 131 

I will a dd an extract from a letter just received from Col. H. B. Richards, of Lagrange r 
Tex., that foreshadows much additional importance to the Orange cane : 

"But now let me tell you ahout my Orange cane. It is no longer doubtful at all hut 
that the Orange cane will become in this climate perennial, and after this year I will 
only plant every two years. I have tested it now effectually for two years, and am con- 
vinced that the stubbles will stand colder weather and more of it than those of the Rib- 
bon cane. 

"My cane from last year's stubbles has larger stalks, is taller, and in every way ahead 
of the earliest seed cane at this time, and I believe will carry its superiority clear through 
to the sirup barrel. I want to begin grinding by June 1. 

"Please let me hear from you soon. 
' ' Yours, truly, 

"HENRY B. RICHARDS. 

"La Grange, Fayette County, Texas, April 8, 1882." • 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

ISAAC A. HEDGES. 

Prof. B. SlLLIMAN, 

Chairman Com. N. A. S., New Haven, Conn. 



21.— LETTER FROM C. CONRAD JOHNSON. 

Baltimore, Md., March 30, 1882. 

Sir: -In compliance with the request of Prof. Peter Collier, of the Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C, I have the honor of submitting for your consideration 
a detailed exposition of my views on the subject of sorghums with reference to the pros- 
pective production of sugar from their juices, as appears to me from an examination of 
his report upon this matter. 

Preliminary, however, to any remarks that may be made upon the respective data ob- 
tained by Dr. Collier, it must be admitted that his results as therein presented are 
rather those of an analytical character than the product of actual experiment, at least to 
any great extent or beyond the precincts of the laboratory, and that while much valua- 
ble scientific knowledge has thus been gained a wide field for examination still remains 
to be explored before sufficient information shall have been acquired upon which to 
base a satisfactory verdict in the premises. 

Without entering into a discussion of the special methods followed and processes em- 
ployed for the purpose of obtaining the various data presented, we may without cavil 
accept them from Dr. Collier's hands as being scientifically correct. After dealing with 
this portion of the report, Dr. Collier at once enters upon an interesting and exhaustive 
examination of the constituent history of the different varieties, and exhibits the re- 
sults obtained from the analyses of thirty-eight different kinds, made at successive 
periods during their growth and arranged in tabular form. From these tables and the 
succeeding ones, where a comparison of the various stages, especially the working 
periods are shown, and the condensed table (No. 88) of the stages, as determined from 
the results of the same stage for all the varieties of sorghum, we are enabled to deduce 
the facts laid down by Dr. Collier as the resultants obtained from them. We thus find 
that the earlier stages exhibit a minimum amount of crystallizable sugar (sucrose) pres- 
ent in the juice, and that in proportion as the plant advances the amount increases, un- 
til it attains a point as high at 12 or 16 per cent, of the juice. The "solids not sugar" 
likewise are found to increase, but not in a similar ratio to that of the crystallizable 
sugar. 

As regards the glucose, or uncrystallizable sugar, it is to be remarked that during the 
primary stages we find the amount existing in the juice to be as high as 4.50 per cent. 
(see table 88, stage 3), while in stage 14, or about the commencement of the working 
period, it averages only 1.88 per cent., as compared with 11.76 per cent, of sucrose, and 
in the variety ' ' Hybrid ' ' from E. Link, we find these components in the same period 
to be 0.82 per cent., or less than 1 per cent, of glucose as against 14.28 per cent, sucrose 
(table 12), showing a gradual diminution of glucose as the sucrose increases, and as a 
consequence of these changes a constant increase in the exponential value or purity of the 
juice. The percentage of juice extracted from the stripped stalks is also given, and is 
useful, when taken in connection with the table of specific gravities, Jn the calculation 
of various data, as also for comparison with similar products from the Louisiana and 
West Indian eane. 

The graphical plates also claim attention, inasmuch as they exhibit more forcibly and 



132 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

clearly the changing composition of the canes during the period of their growth than can 
be obtained from the tabular statements, as we are at a glance enabled to comprehend 
the exact composition of the canes at any period within the observed limits, and the re- 
lations existing between .the sucrose, glucose, and solid matter forming the juices, to- 
gether with the relative amount of these components when judged by the average pro- 
portions of these substances as found in the sugar beet and cane. 

Plate XIV of this series presents the average development of the thirty-eight varieties 
whose histories are given in the previous tables, and is virtually a succinct graphical 
resume of the average of these canes during each of the periods into which its growth has 
been divided, together with an exposition of the ' ' average available sugar per acre, spe- 
cific gravity of, and purity of juice, and the number of analyses determining the above 
for each of these stages. ' ' 

As noticed by Dr. Collier (p. 78, $ 3), "it is developed that 'the amount of solids not 
sugar ' increase regularly with and with almost the same rapidity as the glucose dimin- 
ishes. Thus for specific gravities between 1.030 and 1.086 the average per cent, of glu- 
cose is 2.84, and of 'solids not sugar' 2.71, while the actual loss of glucose is 1.76 per 
cent, and the actual gain of 'solids not sugar' is 2.77 per cent. From the small num- 
ber of ash determinations (34) it appears that the average per cent, of ash in sorghum 
juice amounts to 1.07; hence we must conclude that a loss of 2.76 per cent, of glucose is 
apparently counterbalanced by a gain of 1.70 per cent, of organic solids not sugar, the 
ash varying but slightly. * * * One point, however, seems to be suggested strongly 
namely, that the decrease in glucose bears a much closer relationship to the increase of 
organic ' solids not sugar ' than to the increase of crystallizable sugar. In other words, 
it seems at least possible that the commonly accepted idea that cane sugar is formed in 
plants only through the intervention of glucose may be a mistaken idea." 

In regard to the above remark pointing to the existence of cane sugar as a primary 
formation in the plant, while much may be advanced in favor of this position, there is on 
the other hand much valuable evidence, and particularly that of McCulloh, who, after 
extended examinations into this matter, seems to favor the opposite theory. This author- 
ity states in his well-known report to Prof. A. D. Bache on investigations in relation to 
sugar and its manufacture, February 27, 1847 (p. 188, $ 19 and 20), after presenting the 
results of a series of experiments made with different varieties of cane, the following: 
' ' The preceding experiments were instituted with the view of determining whether, as 
has of late been maintained, cane sugar is a primary or a secondary product in the de- 
velopment of the plant; whether, in other words, it is formed directly by physiological 
agency from inorganic matter or whether it has existed previously as a constituent and 
inorganic portion of the cane during its earlier immature condition, and has assumed the 
nature of crystallizable sugar by virtue of some chemical change at an advanced stage 
of the development of the plant. The facility with which those vegetable substances 
undergo transformation, which are composed of carbon; hydrogen, and oxygen, when the 
two latter are in the proportions requisite to form water, naturally suggests the hypothe- 
sis that sugar may be formed in plants by some means analogous to those employed in 
converting starch and woody fiber into grape sugar and the latter into alcohol and car- 
bonic acid. Yet as all these changes seem but steps of degradation in the scale of organ- 
ized being, partial returns to organic nature, and as it has hitherto been found impracticable 
by artificial means to form crystallizable sugar, which seems to occupy a higher rank in 
the scale of vegetable organization, it has been with seeming probability concluded that 
cane sugar in the growing* plant results from no chemical reaction upon such substances as 
starch, woody fiber, &c. , but is produced directly by some vital and mysterious forces dif- 
ferent from those of mere chemical affinity, and for the discovery of which we should 
study rather the effects of light, electricity, &c. , than mere reactions of acids, alkalies, 
and other chemical reagents. 

The probable conclusion which I would deduce from the preceding analysis, is that 
since no other sugar than cane sugar exists in the mature joint of cane grown under favorable 
circumstances, while left-polarizing sugar is a constituent element of new and immature joints, 
which also vary chemically from the former in other respects, and undergo a change not 
unlike that which takes place in the ripening of fruits, cane sugar is therefore formed as a 
secondary product, and probably from the left-polarizing sugar, an opinion the opposite of 
that which has been of late generally accepted, and based upon investigations made by 
M. Hervy in France, under the unfavorable circumstances of using canes grown in hot 
houses, as well as upon the above-mentioned theoretical reasons. M. Hervy states that 
there was no difference in the old and new joints of the cane he used, but to every plan- 
ter it is a familiar fact that new joints differ entirely from old in the countries adapted to 
the culture of the cane, the former being succulent in fiber and of an astringent taste, 
destitute entirely 6f sweetness, while the latter are solid in fiber and contain a perfectly 
sweet juice." 

This explanation of the existence of glucose in the cane, which is further proven by 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 133 

the analyses of Caseca and leery, who both found traces of this element in their exami- 
nations of even mature canes, corresponds with the above opinion. The personal experi- 
ence of the writer also supports the same conclusions, for the reason that he has found 
that mature canes on the Island of San Domingo will not at times produce crystallizable 
sugar, and particularly during those seasons when an extended drought has prevailed, 
during the latter portion of which the canes have ripened, but which have been followed 
by rains, causing the canes to take a new growth, and consequently forming a large 
amount of glucose, whose presence in the juice when expressed and exposed to the rude 
processes of manufacture generally employed on the island has been sufficient to counter- 
act whatever of crystallizing power there remained in the concentrated sirups. If such 
be the case, and it seems to be so, we must attribute the increase of "solids not sugar" 
to some other agency than the one suggested. Moreover that the presence of glucose in 
the sorghum juices may be reduced very materially, if not altogether, is shown by an 
examination of the variety known as "Link's Hibrid." (Table No. 12, 1880, to which, 
reference has already been made. ) 

Table No. 89, distinguished by Dr. Collier as the "specific gravity" table, is, from a 
practical point of view, one of the most valuable in connection with this subject of any 
presented to our consideration as being an exposition of the constituencies of sorghum 
juices, as developed by analysis from the gravities 1.019 as a minimum to 1.090 and 1.092,. 
together with each intermediate rate, and enables any one of ordinary ability and pos- 
sessing a hydrometric gauge to form a comparatively true idea of the composition of 
such juices within these limits. From experiments and the information here afforded, 
it has been determined that the specific gravity should exceed 1,066, representing a per- 
centage of crystallizable sugar present equivalent to 70.48 of the total solids contained 
in the juice, in order to obtain a satisfactory result, as shown in the remaining columns 
of the table and explained in the report. 

With reference to the analysis of the soils as bearing upon the saccharine production, 
nothing can be said from the amount of data afforded, as it is too scanty to base any re- 
liable conclusions upon it at this stage, but it must be kept in mind that if sorghum cane 
is to be cultivated to any extent for the production of sugar it will be due as much to 
the increased knowledge obtained of the terrestrial and climatic necessities of the plant 
as to the perfected applications of improved and economic methods of manufacture. 

Table 96, showing the " comparative value during the working period of sorghums and 
cornstalks," is a tabulated expression of the results deduced from the "specific gravity 
table, ' ' and affords the premises upon which Dr. Collier has based his conclusions as 
presented on the previous page of his report. Without discussing the merits of each 
variety as therein exhibited, we can safely agree as to the results obtained by him, and 
more particularly with reference to the eight varieties especially referred to. The ' ' avail- 
able results," however, must be accepted as a yield produced under fair circumstances 
and accurate scientific research, and must be valued accordingly as the possible product 
of a manufacture based on chemical analyses. 

Having thus examined the results and methods employed by Dr. Collier, it remains 
only for us to compare the chemical with the commercial value of the substance, or, in 
other words, to investigate the probabilities surrounding the conversion of the saccharine 
equivalent existing in the juice into the commercial product. 

This portion of the subject, which is probably the most interesting to the practical 
sugar-maker, is one which can be treated only in oneway— that of analogy. No reliable 
data beyond results obtained by crude, not to say destructive processes with respect to 
the production of sorghum sugars, are to my knowledge in existence. Beyond the fact 
that a crystallizable sugar is attainable, and has been produced by accident rather than 
intent (a result for many years considered impossible), in greater or less quantities, and 
in the way of experiment, but little is practically known. That such has been the case 
is not to the practical sugar-maker a matter of astonishment; on the contrary, the re- 
verse would have been so, in view of the methods followed and the character of the 
apparatus employed. 

The constitution of sugar in a comparatively pure saccharine solution, whether the 
latter be derived by expression from the canes themselves or formed by the dissolving of 
the crude material in hot water, as in the refineries, is such that it is readily affected by 
the surrounding conditions of temperature, atmospheric purity, and cleanliness as regards 
the containing vessels. In proportion as the attenuation of the solution is increased the 
action of these influences becomes greater and more rapid, and consequently unfavorable 
results are frequently obtained, where under proper management a satisfactory return 
could be easily secured. This is proven by a glance at the average yield of the sugar 
canes of the West Indies, where the average analysis of the best canes under favorable 
circumstances exhibits an average of 18 per cent. ; crystallizable sugar in the juice, out 
of which amount the average best result in the majority of cases of crude sugars does not 
exceed 6£ per cent. This result is based upon an examination of juices weighing 9° 



134 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Baura.6, and an analysis of Obaheite cane juice by McCnlloh, of the specific gravity of 
1.0843, which, upon polariscopic examination gave the following result: 

Water 81. 36 

Crys. sugar 18. 07 

Ext. matter 0. 57 



100. 00 



or 18. 07 per cent, of cane sugar. It must, however, be remembered tha t the planters 
frequently commence working juice averaging slightly over 5J° Baum6, so that practi- 
cally speaking the comparison would not be a perfectly just one if regarded as absolutely 
correct. 

With regard to the sugar beet we find the percentage of sugar in its juice to be about 
11.30 on the average as generally given, and according to Professor Deherain under cer- 
tain circumstances to attain a saccharometric strength equivalent to 20 per cent, in spe- 
cial varieties. For the purpose of judging of the adaptability of sorghum juices to the 
manufacture of sugar I present the following table giving the relative composition of 
cane, beet, and sorghum juices based on average data, the latter being an average of the 
twelve first varieties as presented in table 88 of Dr. Collier's report, 1880, p. 110: 



Cane juice . 



Beet juice. 



Sorghum 
juice. 



Water 

Cane sugar .. 

Glucose 

Solid matter 



81.00 

18.20 

Trace. 

0.80 



82.60 
11.30 



5.30 



82.88 
12.57 

1.40? 

3.15 5 



4.55 



From the above table we may fairly conclude that the comparison develops' a greater 
similarity between the juices of the beet and the sorghum than between the sugar-cane 
and the latter. Without referring to the comparative equalities of the moistures and 
cane sugars present in the two latter (beet and sorghum), we may remark at once the 
greater quantitative approximation of the amounts of solid, matter existing in these two 
substances as being more important from the fact- that in proportion to the relative 
amounts of these solid matters do we find the results as developed in cane sugars reduced. 
In other words, it is to the amount of solid matters present that we must look for a true 
measure of the available amounts of sugars that we can obtain, and that in proportion 
as we are enabled to eliminate or destroy the effect of these elements in the same ratio 
will we have the power to obtain an increase of saccharine product. Beyond this it is 
further to be noted that the existence of uncrystallizable sugar in the "beet has been 
claimed by Mr. Bracormot — a fact which would further assimilate its juice to that of 
sorghum — but denied by Selouze and Pelegot. Its presence has also been claimed to ex- 
ist in cane juice, according to the analyses of this plant by leery and Caseca. 

In the preceding table while the sugar (crystallizable) existing in the sorghum does 
not approximate to the amount present in cane juice, it apparently surpasses that of the 
beet, but the consideration of the presence of glucose in the juice must be regarded as 
modifying materially its final value. Whether the existence of this substance in the 
juices of sugar-producing plants can be reduced or eliminated entirely is a matter of in- 
terest and worthy of careful examination. That it is capable of reduction seems to be 
proved by the analysis presented in the case of "Link's Hybrid," in which variety we 
find the composition to be as follows (see table 12, page 59, Collier's report, 1880), and also 
from the examination of mature sugar-cane: 



Analyses of Link's 


Hybrid (Collier). 










& 


CD 


<6 


6 


H 

ba 




> 


CO 

oa 
0> 


S3 


S3 

•1— s 


S3 . 

CO J; 




u 


u 


C 


fj 


■8-8 


Date. 


bo 


ft 






§ 3 






X 


<o 


CD 


a-~> 




"3 


9 

CD 


o 
o 


CO 

O 
u 




, 


o 




S3 


a 






ft 


S3 


rr* 


S3 


o ' 




m 


y-i 





50 


0Q 






Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


July 24 


1.030 
1.066 
1.076 
1.086 
1.084 


56.90 
63.69 
64.15 
63.36 
62.33 


2.85 
1.51 
0.88 
0.52 
0.46 


3.17 
11.86 
14.75 
16.68 
16.43 


2.18 




2.95 




3.14 


October 22 


4.99 




2.71 







SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 135 

In this particular case we find the amount of sucrose present to be nearer that of the 
average West Indian and Louisiana cane, while a continual reduction in the proportion 
of glucose also occurs. With juices equal in strength to these, or approximating to such 
values, and in view of the improvements in the saccharine properties of beet juice, as 
demonstrated in the increase of their sucroses from an average of 11.30 per cent, to 20 
per cent. , as shown by Professor Deherain, in the case of samples No. 1 and No. 2, im- 
proved beets, No. 348, we may, under the present circumstances, reasoning from analogy, 
conclude that while we have a sugar constituent existing in the best sorghum juices which 
will, with careful manipulation, produce profitably a commercial sugar, we have every 
reason to believe from the data herein afforded that this amount can be very materially 
increased, and to an extent sufficient to render it under ordinary circumstances a profit- 
able industry in many sections of the country. 

In order, however, to attain this end, and to obtain such a maximum result, it mustbe 
remembered that a careful manipulation of the raw j uice is a sine qua non to success. A cor- 
rect knowledge of the composition of the substances which are to be operated upon becomes 
an absolute necessity, and an avoidance of such processes and methods are as injurious to the 
operation, and its final result, are equally demanded as requisite elements of success. 
Perhaps in no stage in the process of sugar-making, whether in the treatment of the true 
canes or of the sorghums, is so much importance rightly adjudged, and in practice so 
little care taken, or rather absolute carelessness exhibited, as in the very necessary proc- 
ess of defecation. Practically speaking, in the majority of cases, as far as an actual 
beneficial defecation is effected, such a result as a perfect one does not exist. The opera- 
tion as generally performed is done in a very crude manner, and the addition of the def- 
ecating material (generally lime), if it be suitable at all for the purpose intended, is 
usually applied in such a manner as rather to be an actual detriment than an aid to the 
operation. Frequently a greater quantity is added than the necessities of the case demand, 
and the apparent failure of it to act as rapidly as expected generally is followed by an 
increase of the dose, thus converting an actual remedy into a poison. The want of pre- 
cision in grading the proportion of the neutralizing agent to the chemical necessities of 
the juice is without doubt one of the greatest faults common among sugar-makers, and 
yet this is really one of the most important operations of the manufacturer because all 
the succeeding processes are in a great measure dependent upon it. When once cane 
juice has been expressed from the stalks, the operations of the sugar-maker should pro- 
gress without delay, because exposure to the air will, in a majority of cases, produce a 
viscous fermentation, resulting partly from this cause and partly from the nitrogenous 
substances held in suspension in the juice. If free acids exist in the juice, lime, in 
saturating them, produces uncrystallizable salts which tend to keep a portion of the su- 
gar in a soluble condition, and to this cause we can attribute a large proportion of the 
molasses which is usually formed. 

If alcoholic fermentation has set in, the action of the defecating material operates in 
a different manner. It unites with the carbonic acid, and combines with the glucose 
which accompanies or precedes its formation; this second product meets with almost im- 
mediate decomposition, the glucose going to form glucic acid and, with the lime, glucate 
of lime. This operation does not stop at this point, but still progresses, and this salt 
now becomes changed into a new substance — probably the molassate of lime — which forms 
the coloring matter present in brown sugars and molasses. This latter substance is, how- 
ever, thought to be less injurious in its effects than glucose itself, for the reason that it 
is less viscid than the latter, and although it destroys a certain amount of saccharine 
matter, does not prevent crystallization to the same extent as glucose. 

Defecation, therefore, should be a neutralization of the acids as nearly as possible, but 
in practice we find the actual result to be slightly alkaline. If alteration has taken place 
owing to various causes, as previously shown, glucate of lime is the result and saccharate 
of lime if otherwise. This latter is an uncrystallizable salt, which, when present in quan- 
tities, owing to its greater decomposing action, also renders evaporation slow and diffi- 
cult, and opposes to some extent crystallization, according to the best authorities on the 
subject. 

The difficulties here referred to may, perhaps, be ameliorated to some extent by, pass- 
ing the fresh juices at once into a tank or receiver to which a low degree of heat can be 
applied, and in which the action of specific gravity may aid in separating the heavier 
feculencies present, then passing the partly clear juice through a thin layer of bone-black 
in order to separate mechanically as much as possible the remaining feculencies, and es- 
pecially the gummy and viscid substances in the juice. Thence it goes at once to the 
defecators, where it is to be treated with lime, preferably graystone lime, freshly slaked 
and diluted with water to the consistency of milk. The practice of using dry lime, or 
of mixing it with a portion of the juice, is not one to be recommended, as it produces, 
with the mixing juice to the amount that is employed, the very result that should be 
most guarded against. After a perfect defecation it next passes to the clarifiers, or may 



13f> SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

be passed through bone-black which has already been used for bleaching, which is the 
preferable method, as the action of the black extracts the excess of lime present in the 
juice, which has the double tendency of producing coloration in the juice on the appli- 
cation of heat and the formation of cal or scale in the vacuum-pans. Powdered bone- 
black may also be used with satisfactory results in the course of defecation, as also albu- 
minous substances. Excess of lime may also be neutralized in many ways; and while 
alum and cream of tartar have been suggested for this purpose, sulphuric acid is to be 
regarded as being preferable to either when the . after results are taken into considera- 
tion. The indications of a perfect defecation are easily distinguishable by the practical 
sugar-maker, and too well known to need description here. Clarification, which is sim- 
ply a supplementary defecation without the intervention of anything except heat, needs 
no comment as beino; based upon the same general principles that control the previous 
process of defecation. We may therefore pass at once to the consideration of the next 
stage in the process, that of evaporation, and the means used to effect this object. 

The apparatus employed in the evaporation of saccharine solutions may be divided 
generally into three classes: firstly, those in which direct (fire) heat is applied, and of 
which the Jamaica or open kettle train is the representative, and probably the best of 
its class, together with the various modifications of ' ' patent ' ' fire evaporating pans more 
aptly styled by Dr. Ure "sugar frying-pans;" secondly, open steam trains or apparatus 
in which the evaporation is produced by the radiation of steam heat or hot air in the 
presence of the atmosphere or under ordinary pressure; and thirdly, vacuum apparatus, 
or such in which evaporation is carried on at a point below the normal pressure of the 
atmosphere and at a reduced temperature. 

As it has been with apparatus of the first class that most of the experiments made in 
the concentration of sorghum juices have been performed, a few remarks on this special 
class may not be out of place at this stage of the present inquiry. According to Hoch- 
stetter, during the evaporation of cane juice in open trains, wherein the liquid is ex- 
posed directly to the action of the atmosphere at a high temperature, formic acid is liable 
to be produced, and this formation is claimed by him to exert a most pernicious effect 
upon both the color and crystallizable powers of the cane sugar. It is also remarked by 
the same authority, that a similar effect occurs during the process of claying, by the 
direct contact of the large surface exposed by the heated drops with the air, and the ac- 
tion produced thereby. The production of caramel and of glucose is also a direct result 
of this method, and for weak solutions and those of the character of the sorghums can- 
not for these reasons be for a moment considered. 

The next class — those involving the use of open trains using either steam or hot air as 
evaporating agents — while they are an improvement upon the former, fall far behind in 
point of effectiveness the results to be derived; for although a better control of the tem- 
perature is afforded than by the use of direct heat, the difficulty of a necessarily high 
temperature at the termination of the process destroys to a very great extent whatever 
advantages may have accrued during the primary stages of the evaporation. That a por- 
tion of these ill effects may be materially obviated in this class of evaporators is evi- 
denced by the practice followed by the beet-sugar manufacturers, who in some cases use 
wooden covers and steam chimneys for their evaporating vessels. The amelioration re- 
ferred to is caused by the exposure of the surface juice to a covering of steam, whose 
effects are less inj urious than those of heated air. This modification of the open evap- 
orator is to be recommended, as being one involving but little expense, and would no 
doubt if suitably arranged give comparatively satisfactory results, independently of effect- 
ing a greater economy in the matter of fuel. 

The third or vacuum apparatus .as invented by Howard, and as modified by various 
manufacturers, must however be regarded as the most perfect system yet applied to the 
manufacture of cane or other sugars. Filling as it does all the conditions requisite to a 
favorable attainment of the end in view, it is without doubt the only proper method 
worthy to be employed in' exact investigations of this character, and when combined 
with steam defecators, bone-black filters, and mechanical filters, and erected as a double 
or triple effect apparatus, we have presented to us the most perfect combination of 
mechanical devices that has yet been invented for the production of sugars. 

While comparatively cheap as regards cost, both in the first instance and with respect 
to their operation, competition among manufacturers has in many instances produced an 
inferior machine; and a short-sighted desire to economize on first cost has led to the con- 
struction of apparatus which, while a great improvement over the open trains, are in 
some respects inferior to what they should be. In this category we may place vacuum- 
pans without steam-jackets, which rely for their heating surface entirely upon the 
amount of worm contained in them, as being probably the worst of their class and a 
source of endless annoyance to the sugar boiler, not to say loss to the manufacturer. A 
substitute for the steam-jacket has been sought for by placing the lower worm close to 
the bottom of the pan, but this device does not seem to meet with satisfactory results 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 137 

in practice. Where economy of steam is a matter of great importance the use of a single 
pan, arranged in direct connection with a steam recipient so. as to utilize the exhaust 
steam of the pumps and engines, may he successfully employed, and the evaporation 
carried on in the open steam or kettle train up to a point varying between 18° and 26° 
Beaume, but in this case large capacity is required both in the case of the vacuum pump 
and pan. 

The process of crystallization is the next that claims our attention, and may be re- 
garded rather as an effect produced by the continuation of the previous operation, than 
as being separate and distinct from it. The methods pursued to obtain this have for 
their basis the well-known fact ' ' that sugar is soluble in water in a ratio proportional 
to its temperature up to the degree of 270° Fahr. , at which temperature the result is a 
sirup so exceedingly viscid that if it be allowed to cool it will be found that the sugar 
cannot crystallize in the usual manner, but simply solidifies in the form of a transparent 
amorphous mass, similar to that prepared by confectioners and popularly known as 
candy. While, however, crystallization ceases at this point, it is to be remarked that 
there still remains a certain amount of moisture, sometimes called the water of solution, 
united in the proportion of 10 per cent, of water to 90 per cent, of sugar. If now the 
evaporation be pushed to a point beyond this, so as to perfectly desiccate the mass, the 
increased temperature required to do this operates in such manner as to effect a complete 
decomposition of the sugar itself, and thus sets the bounds of the possible limits of this 
process, as far as heat is concerned. On the other hand we find that while sugar is sol- 
uble in one-third its weight of cold water at the temperature of 60° Fahr. a saturated 
solution contains 66 per cent, of sugar and 33 per cent, water, while at 212° Fahr. 
by reason of the increase of solubility due to the change of temperature the same con- 
dition indicates the relations of 83.33 per cent, of the former to 16.66 per cent, of the 
latter, or the proportions of 5 to 1. For this reason, if we undertake to evaporate a 
solution which is saturated at the temperature of 60° Fahr. and to so apply heat so as to 
maintain a constant temperature of 212° Fahr. it will be found necessary to drive off in 
the form of vapor one-half of the water contained in the solution before the latter will 
have become fully saturated at the higher temperature. In other words' the proportion 
of water must be reduced from one-third the total amount present at 60° to one-sixth at 
212°. As soon, however, as the saturation point is reached any further progress in this 
direction will cause the sugar to separate in a crystalline form on account of the solvent 
power of the water present having been exceeded, and this process will continue until 
the deposit becomes too thick either to transmit the heat readily or allow of its conven- 
ient passage through the exit valve of the pan. 

Evaporation under atmospheric pressure, therefore, exhibits results in accordance 
with the indications shown in the previous paragraph and applies to the various forms 
of open apparatus used in the art, and in such others wherein an equivalent surface press- 
ure is maintained during the operation. We encounter, however, very different phe- 
nomena, if we eliminate the pressure of the atmosphere and perform the operation in a 
vacuum. Subject to this condition, we find that' the operation is performed under a very 
reduced temperature, and in consequence of the rapid absorption of latent heat the 
' ' mother liquor ' ' or unevaporated portion of the sirup will necessarily contain a lesser 
amount of sugar. Taking 175°-180° Fahr. as the limit of temperature we can estimate, 
for all practical purposes, with sufficient accuracy that water will dissolve four times its 
own weight at this heat, being then fully saturated. Further evaporation, therefore, 
necessarily causes the deposition of crystalline sugar as in the former case. In practice 
the operation is carried at various temperatures, ranging from 120° Fahr. up to 180° 
Fahr. , determinable by the character of the sirup acted upon and the perfection attained 
in the previous processes. In boiling for grain, as it is technically termed, the same 
principle maintains, the skill of the sugar-maker being directed to form primarily a 
series of nuclei and to afterward erect a superstructure upon them without permitting 
the formation of a secondary series. It is in this way the higher grades of sugar are now 
usually obtained, and to this method and the application of centrifugal force in the 
drying apparatus are due the existence of the well-known class of centrifugal sugars. 
Muscovado sugars, however, follow a different method, the sirups being concentrated to 
a lesser degree of saturation, the final crystallizing action taking place in open tanks or 
coolers under atmospheric conditions and at a temperature contained within the limits 
of 95° and 105° Fahr. Here, too, the separation of the solid sugar follows the same gen- 
eral law of saturation, and in proportion to the length of time employed in the tanks in 
cooling will the size of the crystals formed therefrom depend. Molasses sugars of strong 
test are boiled so as to form minute crystals in the pan, but are dropped into tanks and 
the operation is concluded in the same way as in the case of Muscovados. 

The treatment ol soured or frozen canes is a matter involving considerable interest to 
cane-growers both in Louisiana and other parts of this country, and owing to the fact of 
the adaptability of the sorghum to higher latitudes must necessarily be important to 



138 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



the producers of this plant. It may be briefly stated that while much is open to the in- 
vestigation of the chemist in this department, practical experience has indicated the 
profitable crystallizability of such juices, when improved apparatus and proper con- 
ditions have been employed. It is also to be observed that while such canes may be 
worked in the ordinary way, a larger percentage of crystalline sugar is produced when 
methods similar to those pursued in the course of extracting sugar from West Indian 
and other molasses of strong polariscopic test by the northern refineries are followed. 

Of the centrifugal machine and its numerous adaptations to the draining of various 
classes of sugars, little is necessary to be said, as its common use among sugar-makers 
and refiners has rendered it either in one style or another generally known. At this 
point, before entering upon a consideration of the conclusions to be drawn from the pre- 
vious investigations, it may be well to compare the results presented to us by McCulloh 
of the workings of the various apparatus as compared with each other in the production 
of sugars from Louisiana canes. 

In the following table the comparison is made between the several different systems 
of manufacture as therein given, both with *respect to the amounts of sugars produced, 
the relative quality or grade of product, and the total pecuniary value in a relative point 
of view of each result, the whole being based upon an equal amount of extractable sugar 
in each case. 

Value of a crop of cane made into sugar by six different processes, into hogsheads, without being 
siruped, at the price each class has been sold or is worth this season, 1847. 

[The whole quantity of dry sugar being in each-case 653,367 pounds and the boiling power required 

for each crop being 8,000 pounds.] 



T3 


CD 


-*-3 
CO 
U 

«a 
°03 

co &C 

73 3 
(3 to 
3 



u . 
<d-2 

>■* CD 

o 

cd .2 

3tJ 

>> ft 


^Total value of 
tirst sugars in 
dollars. 


o 

CD . 
CO u 

CO CO 

Ph 


" CO 

CD •** 

ft CD 

-< a 

c3 3 


Total value of 
second sugars 
in dollars. 


o - 

a _ 

Vl CO 

O CD 

B* 

3. o3 

_0 — ' 




CJD+s 

go 


Total value of 
molasses in 
dollars. 


O 

3 . 

** u 
~* o 
A 
■+a 
O 
EH 


1 

2 

3 
4 

5 

8 

+8 


433,000 
433,000 
433, 000 
433,000 
433,000 
440,000 
478,500 


4i 

4i 

5 

4 

5£ 

6* 

6 


19, 485 
19, 485 
21, 650 
17, 320 
23, 815 
28, 600 
28, 710 


* 43, 300 
153, 500 
162, 000 
153, 500 
162, 000 
163,000 
141, 000 


2 

2i 

3i 

2i 

3* 

4* 

4i 


866 00 
1,221 25 
5,265 00 
3, 837 50 
5, 670 00 
7, 742 50 
6, 345 00 


26,734 
13, 857 
12, 874 
12, 857 
12, 871 
11, 949 
10, 041 


18 
18 
18 
18 
20 
20 
20 


4, 812 12 
2, 494 26 
2,317 32 
2, 314 26 
2,574 20 
2,389 80 
2,008 20 


25, 163 12 
26, 200 51 
29, 232 32 
23,471 76 
32, 059 20 
38,732 30 
37,063 20 



Comparative expenses, consumption of fuel, profits, &c. 





1 

X 
CD 

S cd 
o co 
3 el 
03 <o 
■** ft 

c3 

s 


CD 

M . 
& ft 

a 

o 

m 


CD 

s 

« . 
3 co 

o w 
o 


of 

CO 

O to 
■-' u 
u & 
01=3 

»s 

■B'fl 

03 

CO 


CO 

'd 

CD 
CD 
O 

o 

U 

ft 
-*> 
CD 


"S CO 

el 

o3 >» 


• 

03 

ft 
ft 

GO 

Ota 

CO 

O 

o 


1 


$7,000 
7,000 
7,000 
8,000 
8,000 
8,000 
8,000 




1,515 
1,515 
1,515 

1,948 

1,948 

550 

550 




$18, 163 12 
19, 200 37 
22, 232 32 
14, 477 37 
22,885 55 
31, 603 55 
31, 034 45 


$13, 440 43 
12,403 18 

9,371 23 
17,126 18 

8,718 00 


$2,000 


2. 






2,500 


3 






4,000 


4 


200 
200 
200 
200 


L. $974 25 

L. 974 25 

S.2,171 75 

S.2,171 25 


12,000 


5 


12,000 


8 


10,000 


-f8 


569 10 


10,000 







(In the foregoing table taken from M'Culloh's report, method 1 represents "the old 
set of kettles;" 2. Set of kettles for sirup, strike high pressure steam pan; 3. Set of ket- 
tles for sirup, and strike vacuum-pan; 4. Open high pressure steam pans for sirup and 
strike; 5. The same for sirup with strike vacuum pan; 8. Rellieux's triple and quadru- 
ple effect pan apparatus, clarifiers, and filters; -4-8. The same with results obtained from 
high boiling). 

In the above table we have the relative values of each of these methods, as far as pro- 
duction, value of the result, and expense attending the same are concerned, together 
with the relative cost of each apparatus at the date of the compilation of this table. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 139 

These results are alike both with reference to the total amount of gross values produced, 
and the relative economy of each method with respect to cost of production referred to 
the net product. Thus in both instances they stand as follows: 8, +8, 5, 3, 2, 1, 4; the 
method 8 giving the best and 4 the poorest, proving that the rules indicated by scientific 
investigation are substantiated by the results of practical experience. From these data 
we may conclude, therefore, that vacuum apparatus when properly combined with suit- 
able clarifying appurtenances will always give the most satisfactory returns and in the 
increased value of the product will in a short period repay the original first cost. 

Having thus compared fully the chemical constituents of the canes under discussion, 
the processes best adapted for the attainment of the ends in view, together with such sug- 
gestions as may seem proper towards enabling the operation to be conducted with a 
minimum loss, we may return to the comparison of the actual results obtained in prac- 
tice, with the ' ' available ' ' ones presented by Dr. Collier in his tables. If we accept it 
as a fact that Louisiana cane will produce on an average 2,000 pounds of sugar and 120 
gallons of molasses to the acre (and we believe that taking the plant and ratoons to- 
gether this will be found a high estimate) we have the following data: 

Average Lousiana cane: 

Sugar pounds . _ 2, 000 

Molasses gallons. _ 120 

French beets: 

Sugar pounds _ _ 3, 600 

Molasses gallons _ _ 156 

Sorghum cane: 

Sugar (average) pounds 



Molasses (estimated) gallons. _ < 



1,417 
2,374 
90 

80 



AGEICULTUEAL EXPENSE. 



Average cost of working per acre: 

Louisiana cane (estimated) $14 00 

French beets 14 00 

Sorghum cane , 11 50 to 17 50 

VALUE OF RESULTS. 

Louisiana cane: 

Sugar $140 00 

Molasses 72 00 



212 00 



French beets: 

Sugar - 189 00 

Molasses 16 38 



205 38 

Sorghum cane: 

Sugar (average) . j 54 00 

167 36 

Molasses (estimated) < 48 00 

*237 72 

From the above data, which is approximated as closely as the information attainable 
in this regard will allow to actual results, we can conclude as follows, independently of 
the final determinations reached in Dr. Collier's report: 

1st. That sorghum canes as a source of sugar production possess on an average less 
crystallizable sugar in their juices than those of the average sugar-cane, but more than 
that contained in the juices of the average French beet. 

2d. That a comparison of the analyses of the juices of the beet, the sorghums, and the 

*Mr. Johnson's estimate omitted the value of the seed of sorghum, an item which it is important 
to state, and which in the opinion of many cultivators is fully equal to the cost of cultivation or 
more. Evidence on this point abounds in this report. — Com. 



140 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

true cane, seems to develop the fact that a greater similarity, chemically speaking, ex- 
ists between the sorghums and the beet than between the latter and the sngar-canes, 
the quantity of ' ' solids not sugar ' ' (ash) in each case being regarded as a factor of greater 
importance in the matter of sugar production than the other features. 

3d. That the capacity of the sorghums for improvement, and their consequent increase 
to produce crystallizable sugar, is evidenced by the superior results obtained from par- 
ticular races and gives us strong reasons to believe that it may be possible to approximate 
its yield in the near future to that of the ordinary sugar-cane. 

4th. That owing to the character of the plant and its similarity in this respect to maize, 
its relative cost of cultivation is necessarily less than that of the beet, and taking into 
consideration the element of time with reference to the period of its growth, less than 
that of the sugar-cane. It is also better adapted to the general conditions of soil, climate, 
and system of agriculture pursued in the United States than that of the beet. 

5th. That a fair trial and effort to determine the practicability of this industry can only be 
made by the use of the best class of machinery, under the management of thoroughly 
competent men of practical ability, before any decision in regard to the results can be 
rendered upon this matter, because the profits to be derived from the cultivation and 
manufacture of sugars depend rather upon the relations existing between the actual 
amounts of sugar extracted and converted into the commercial product and the total su- 
gars in the plant, than upon the latter alone. Thus, while in the case of the ordinary 
cane a result of 6-J per cent, out of a total of 18 per cent, is the common result, a product 
of 7 or 8 per cent, out of a total of 14 per cent, would be a better one in this particular 
instance, independent of the relative increase, inasmuch as the article produced would 
from its quality be of more value, over arid above the fact of its involving a less cost in 
the matter of cultivation. 

6th. From the conclusions drawn in the body of this communication, as also from those 
presented in No. 2, it follows that the methods best adapted to the treatment of sorghum 
juices should lean rather towards those employed for the beet than the ones in use for 
cane, for the reason that the difficulties in these juices are similar and arise in great 
measure from the same sources. 

7th. As an element involved in the practical success of this industry, the relative value 
of sorghum cane as compared with those of other crops of the sections in which it may 
be raised, viz, wheat, rye, oats, corn, &c, becomes important, for the reason that the 
cost of the raw material and its adjuncts influences to a very great extent the value of 
the final product, because no agricultural industry can ever succeed unless the monetary 
value of the product exceeds that of the one it supplants. 

In conclusion, I would state that while exceeding the limits originally intended for 
this communication, and perhaps digressing on details not directly connected with the 
sorghums themselves, the fact of the very intimate relations between the three classes 
referred to must be my excuse. As a practical sugar-maker, however, my own experience 
of many claiming to be such, and their constantly repeated errors has led me to be more 
diffuse on the subject of manufacture than I should otherwise have been, for the reason 
that if these conditions exist among such men we must necessarily expect to find them 
in a greater degree present among those not possessing any experience — such as the ordi- 
nary farmer. 

Let us hope that what chemistry in the matter of the sorghums promises us in the 
present may be brought to a successful realization in the near future, and that following 
in the footsteps of its older brother it may meet with final success. 
Very respectfully submitted, 

C. CONRAD JOHNSON. 

B. Silliman, Chairman Sorghum Sugar Committee, 

National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C. 



28.— LETTER FROM HENRY B. RICHARDS, OF TEXAS, RESPECTING ORANGE 
CANE, PERENNIAL, BY HIS EXPERIENCE. 

[Referred to in the report, p. 28.] 

La Grange, Tex., September 25, 1882. 

Dear Sir: I have been working with improved varieties of sorghum, on a small scale, 

since 1875 until the summer of 1880. I considered until then the Early Amber the best 

for all purposes. In the drought of that summer it fell far behind the Early Orange (sent 

me that spring by Mr. Hedges, of Saint Louis,) and it (the Amber) failed entirely in 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 141 

making a second crop that season. The Orange, on the contrary, made a good average 
second crop. 

Again, in 1881, with the severest drought I ever saw, Amber was a failure; Early 
Orange made two crops, nearly average. I now plant the Orange only. Two mature 
crops of it, for the mill, are certain, and, for forage, three crops. 

In regard to sugar, my works are too small for profitable results in that line, although I 
have made, experimentally, 200 and 300 pounds of sugar during a season. 

Owing to the scarcity of and demand for pure sirup in this section, I have not kept a 
single barrel of sirup this season long enough for it to granulate much, and have only 
boiled to 228° Fahr. , sirup standard. Specimen samples of sirup that I kept have all 
granulated more or less, notably one, made June 19, which is three-fourths solid sugar, 
in very large grains. My sirup is all contracted for by one merchant at 55 cents per gal- 
lon at mill, for all I can make during 1882. I have made near 2, 000 gallons to date, and 
expect to work for two months yet. The yield this season per acre is not satisfactory. 
Juice is pretty rich, ranging from 9° B. to 12° B., mostly the last; but the stand is bad 
generally, and. cane low and branching at the top to three and four, sometimes more, 
heads, which being cut off, leaves the cane very short, say 4 to 6 feet, for the mill. 

The average yield for my mill per acre is about 65 gallons; some have made 80 and 90 
gallons; some as low as 40. 

With regard to the Perennial Orange, its yield was 86 gallons per acre; juice 11° B., 
first crop, and a very poor stand, as it was totally unprotected during the winter. The 
second crop from it for this season will soon be ripe. 

I intend protecting my stubbles this winter with two furrows thrown on them, and 
confidently expect a much earlier and heavier crop next year. 

I find the juice from the old stand richer by 2°, under the same circumstances, than 
seed cane, and the growth of stalk more vigorous and rapid; it also matures earlier. 

No other variety, except the Early Orange, possesses this perennial quality. The 
plant has no insect enemies that I am aware of; it flourishes when other crops are parched 
with drought. By far the most valuable forage plant in existence, yielding three crops 
per annum, each crop giving three times the amount of fat-producing food that the same 
area of corn will give. The only drawback to its culture I know is the difficulty of pro- 
curing labor during the season of cotton picking. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

HENRY B RICHARDS. 

Professor SlLLlMAN, Chairman Sorghum Sugar Committee, N. A. S. 

P. S. — I consider the two certain crops of this Orange cane a much safer and better in- 
vestment every way than any one crop of Ribbon cane, which is the most uncertain, un- 
reliable thing on earth. 



29.— LETTER TO THE CHAIRMAN FROM GENERAL ASHBEL SMITH, 31. A., 

M. D. a ETC., HOUSTON. TEX. 

[Dr. Smith's remarks on the peculiarities of sorghum grown under 
the latitude of Texas are of special interest. He is one of the oldest 
and most intelligent agriculturists in Texas, where he has passed a 
long life, varied by his diplomatic and other public duties, having been 
minister to France and Great Britain from the Eepublic of Texas before 
its annexation to the United States. His estimate of the biennial or 
perennial character of sorghum in that latitude is interesting, and more 
so are his remarks on the successive crops, in the same season, from 
one early sowing, and its vigor against frost destructive to maize. By 
Dr. Smith's statement sorghum is a good sugar crop in Texas for six 
months, from June to December, and hence the long maturing varieties, 
like Honduras, Mammoth, &c, are of special interest.] 

EVEEGEEEN, NEAE HOUSTON, TEX., 

October 18, 1882. 

My Deae Sie: Your esteemed favor of September 19 reached me a few days since, 
after an absence of some time from home. 

I am afraid I shall not be able to give any information valuable or new to you con- 
cerning sorghum. I can only evince my disposition to do so. 

I have cultivated a patch of sorghum, an acre or such a matter, every year for several 
years, not as a leading crop, but as feed for hogs and green forage for horses and mules. 



142 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

I have long known that sorghum is a biennial, perhaps a perennial. This, however, 
is an inconsiderable advantage, or rather none at all. For annual planting is of less 
labor than cleaning the ground around the ratoons ; besides, annual planting leaves the 
ground in better condition. The cost of seed for planting is practically nothing, for a 
nickel's worth is enough to plant an acre. The sorghum of the sugar species known to 
me is a very hardy plant, and bears without injury a degree of cold which completely 
kills Indian corn. Consequently it may be planted very early, with us in Texas early 
in February. It is in another respect hardy, for when fairly started to grow it grows so 
rapidly as soon to outstrip nearly all the weeds of a field, making it a crop of easy cult- 
ure. It suffers as little from being bruised in working as Indian corn. So far as I know 
it has not in Texas suffered from any disease, nor is it yet infested by any insect. In 
Texas and, I presume, in more northern climates, it tillers very numerously. I have 
already mentioned its very rapid growth. When cut down to the ground it sends forth 
shoots so promptly, and these grow so vigorously that two crops of matured canes, ready 
to feed or grind for sirup, can be cut from the same plants and their ratoons, and two or 
three crops of well-matured seed gathered from them during the same season. 

In Texas we have several varieties of sorghum, between which the chief difference is 
of those which bear black seed and those which bear red seed. My own observation 
does not enable me to speak of their relative worth. You are, of course, aware how 
readily the sorghums hybridize with each other and with their congener, broom-corn. 

In Texas sorghum is often rolled for sirup on a small scale, but not for sugar, though 
we know that sugar can be extracted from it. A sufficient reason for the latter fact is 
that the West India cane, Saccharum officinarum, flourishes well here. A neighbor of 
mine makes every year from sorghum a few barrels of sirup, a fair article, better than 
the manufactured sirup of glucose, but decidedly inferior to the sirup from the proper 
sugar-cane. The sorghum sirup, which I have tasted, leaves in the mouth a pungent 
sensation — an avoidable or removable defect, for it does not exist in the juice of the 
mature sorghum cane. 

An acre of sorghum from one cutting yields much less saccharine matter than an acre 
of West India sugar-cane. This disparity in yield may be compensated or reversed in 
favor of sorghum by the successive crops or cuttings of sorghum from the same roots in 
one season before adverted to. 

It is certainly a great advantage of sorghum that rolling the cane may be commenced in 
June and continued without intermission until Christmas. 

The rapidity with which saccharine juices take on fermentation, especially in warm 
weather, would in such case necessitate the use of sulphurous antiseptics to secure the 
immediate commencement from the mill of their conversion into sirup or sugar. 

Sugar-making is a good deal more than simple boiling. It requires skill and prac- 
tical tact. These are readily acquired under an experienced sugar-boiler. To ascertain 
the reliable capability of sorghum as a source of sugar supply, get an experienced, prac- 
tical sugar-boiler from Louisiana or Texas. Then place the product in the hands of one 
of your northern sugar refiners. 

I surely can see no reason why sorghum cannot be cultivated successfully in districts 
so far north of the Saccharum officinarum belt as to furnish the entire supply for consump- 
tion. It must have some advantages over the sugar-beet of Europe. It has less impor- 
tance for us in the great Mexican Gulf districts of Texas, for the Saccharum officinarum 
flourishes and matures sufficiently throughout all these districts. 

On reading over what I have written I am surprised a little at the meager details of 
this letter. It would be indeed a sincere pleasure to add any facts, if I knew any, in 
addition to those you already possess. 
Faithfully, your friend, 

ASHBEL SMITH. 

Professor Silliman, &c. 



30.— DUPLICATE ANALYSES OF SORGHUM JUICES. . 
[See report, p. 26.J 

For the purpose of controlling the results of analyses, there have been made during 
the season of 1882 twenty-four analyses of sorghum juices in duplicate at the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. 

In no case did those who were engaged in the analyses have any reason to suspect that 
they were at work upon duplicates, the samples having been prepared and sent in to the 
laboratory under their several numbers, as being individual specimens of juice. Thus 
Nos. 105 and 113 were duplicate juice, and so are Nos. 107 and 115. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



143 



It will be observed that the agreement is quite as close as could be expected in work 
of such a character, and that the average results given at the close of the table show 
that in the analytical work there is nothing to cause doubt as to the substantial accuracy 
of the work recorded. 

Duplicate analyses of sorghum juices. 



Number of analysis. 


> 

S3 
u 

a 

o 

Jg 

'o 

a> 
ft 
CO 


o 

3 


6 

CO 

o 
u 

o 

3 
CO 


co 


u 


105 


1042 
1034 
1038 
1053 
1072 
1068 
1063 
1072 
1057 
1056 
1068 
1057 
1058 
1057 
1069 
1056 
1038 
1071 
1069 
1073 
1071 
1071 
1061 
1061 


5.40 
3.25 
3.27 
3.38 
2.10 
1.15 
2.79 

.93 
3.23 
2.02 
1.57 
1.48 
2.13 
3.29 
2.44 
2.42 

.67 
1.05 
1.89 
1.82 

.84 
1.19 
4.11 
1.64 


2.72 

3.73 

4.69 

8.30 

12.96 

11.79 

10.06 

13.31 

8.37 

8.92 

12.03 

8.48 

10.41 

8.50 

11.65 

8.86 

5.72 

13.15 

12.48 

12.94 

13.39 

12.54 

8.22 

10.31 


1.69 
1.30 
1.29 
1.14 
3.07 
3.26 
2.55 
3.28 
2.35 
2.63 
2.64 
3.41 
2.50 
2.24 
2.79 
2.24 
2.92 
3.27 
2.73 
3.20 
2.98 
3.40 
2.81 
3.24 


3 06 


107 


4 24 


109 


5 28 


Ill 


8.01 


133 


13 44 


168 


12 06 


lgO 


10 21 


161 


13.60 


168 ! 


8.68 


169 


9.36 


173 


12.44 


182 


8.54 


189.. 




191 




192 




194 


9.01 


206 




214 


13.44 
12.91 




13.68 


212 


13.53 


220 


13.23 




8.70 




10.93 








1435 


54.06 


233.63 


60.43 


195.34 




1059. 8 


2.252 


9.729 


2.627 


10.281 







Number of analysis. 


03 

5 
o 

S 

'o 
o 

ft 

CO 


6 
m 
O 

o 

S3 

I— 1 


6 

en 

O 

u 

V 

. 
CO 


m 

2 
o 

CO 


A. 


113 


1042 
1034 
1038 
1053 
1073 
1069 
1063 
1073 
1057 
1056 
1068 
1057 
1059 
1056 
1069 
1056 
1038 
1071 
1069 
1073 
1071 
1071 
1061 
1062 


5.65 
3.26 
3.27 
3.41 
1.93 
1.16 
2.92 

.93 
3.18 
2.05 
1.53 
1.49 
2.18 
3.29 
2.41 
2.46 

.67 
1.12 
1.87 
1.54 

.89 

.93 
4.04 
1.68 


3.13 

3.83 

4.86 

7.82 

12.81 

11.59 

10.23 

13.31 

8.26 

8.78 

11.96 

8.45 

9.99 

7.91 

11.60 

8.70 

5.93 

13.37 

12.73 

13.50 

13.73 

11.11 

8.49 

10.95 


.87 
1.25 
1.21 
1.57 
3.27 
3.03 
2.21 
3.54 
2.29 
2.45 
2.70 
3.09 


3.20 


115 


3.72 


114 


7.24 


116 


7.90 


136 


13.53 


160 : 


12.14 


157 


10.28 


180 


13.60 
8.69 


181 .' 


9.34 


179 


12.55 


183 


8.52 


202 


10.48 


203 


2.75 

2.88 
2.55 
2.88 
3.26 
2.58 
2.76 
2.98 
5.15 
2.54 
2.56 


8.47 


204 


12.05 


205 . 




207 




226 


13.48 


227 


12.02 


228 


13. 76 


229 


13.48 


230 


13.48 


231 


8.64 


232 


11.02 








1439 


53.86 


233.04 


60.37 


194.59 




1060.0 


2.244 


9.710 


2.625 


10.242 







144 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



31.— THE CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION— ANALY- 
SES OF SORGHUM SEED. 

[Annual Report for 1881. Professor S. W. Johnson, Director.] 

1. Seed of Minnesota Early Amber cane, from E. M. Dunn, Grafton, Mass. 

2. Sorghum seed, from E. D. Pratt, West Cornwall, Conn. 

COMPOSITION. 





Air-dry. 


Water-free. 


Constituents. 


Minnesota 
Early Amber. 


Sorghum 
seed. 


Minnesota 
Early Amber. 


Sorghum 
seed. 




15.04 
1.73 
8.13 
1.94 

69.65 
3.51 


16.76 
2.17 
7.69 
3.21 

66.81 
3.36 






Ash ^ 


2.04 
9.57 
2.28 
81.98 
4.13 


2.60 


Albuminoids or protein 


9.23 


Crude fiber 


3.85 


Starch, sugar, and gum, by difference 


80.30 


Fat 


4.02 








100.00 


100.00 


100.00 


100.00 



No determinations of the digestibilty of sorghum seed have been reported. Its com- 
position is quite similar to that of the ordinary cereal grains, and it is to be anticipated 
that it will prove equally digestible and nutritious. 

Also the following analyses by Dr. Peter Collier, Chemist to the Department of Agri- 
culture: 



Constituents. 


Early 
Amber. 


Liberian. 


White 
Mammoth 


Water 


10.57 
1.81 
4.60 
1.91 
2.64 
7.34 
1.10 

68.55 
1.48 


9.93 
1.47 
3.95 
2.70 
2.64 
6.90 
.72 
70.17 
1.52 




Ash 


1.85 


Fat 


4.58 




2.58 




2.95 


Albumen soluble in alcohol „ 


7.95 




.95 




77.46 


Fiber 


1.68 






Total 


100.00 


100.00 


100.00 







32.— COMMISSIONER LORING'S CIRCULAR. 



United States Depaktment of Agriculture, 

Washington, D. C, June 6, 1882. 

To the manufacturers of sugar from sorghum, beets, and other sugar-producing plants in the 

United States : 

Congress in the appropriation for this Department, for the fiscal year commencing 
July 1, 1882, has provided for ' ' experiments in the manufacture of sugar from sorghum, 
beets, and other sugar-producing plants. ' ' 

In view of the experiments which have already been made at this Department, I have 
determined to institute the following plan for the coming season, in obedience to the act 
referred to. 

Provision has been made for continuing the chemical analyses of sorghum at the lab- 
oratory of the Department, should this be deemed necessary, in order to add to the in- 
formation already obtained by investigations not only here but also in the agricultural 
colleges of this country. 

On assuming the duties of my office in 1881, I found 135 acres of sorghum containing 
52 varieties which had been planted in Washington for the use of the Department. On 
being informed that the time had arrived for manufacturing sirup and sugar, I engaged 
the services of an expert in sugar-making who had been highly recommended for the 
position of superintendent, and operations were commenced on September 26 at the mill, 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 145 

erected by my predecessor, on the grounds. These operations were continued with slight 
interruptions until the latter part of October, at which time the supply of cane became 
exhausted. Forty-two acres of the crop were overtaken by frost before being sufficiently 
ripe for use, and this portion of the crop was so badly damaged as to be unfit for manu- 
facture. The yield of cane, per acre, on the 93 acres gathered was two-and-a-half tons ; 
the number of gallons of sirup obtained was 2,977; and the number of pounds of sugar 
was 165. The expense of raising the cane was $6,589.45; and the expense of converting 
the cane into sirup and sugar was $1,667.59 — an aggregate of $8,557.04. 

The manufacture of sorghum at the Department therefore has been found to be so ex- 
pensive and unsatisfactory, that the work can evidently be better conducted elsewhere. 
To repeat the experiment of last year would be unwise under any circumstances, 
and it is made doubly so by the impossibility of procuring the sorghum cane at any 
reasonable price in this neighborhood, after the discouraging crops of last year, and by 
the additional fact that the appropriation is not available until too late in the season for 
planting to begin. 

While therefore such scientific investigation as is deemed necessary at this Department 
will be continued, the experiment of manufacturing can better be conducted by those 
who have thus far furnished us all the valuable information we have; and this work I 
refer to the manufacturers themselves, to whom I submit the following proposition. 

Each manufacturer is requested to submit an account of his work to this Department, 
covering the following points, viz: 

1. An accurate account of the number of acres of sorghum brought to his mill; the 
number of tons of cane manufactured; the yield of sorghum per acre; the mode of fer- 
tilizing; the time of planting; the time required for maturing the plant; and the value 
of the crop as food for cattle after the juice has been expressed.* 

2. The amount of sugar manufactured ; the amount yielded per ton of cane ; the quality 
of the sugar; the amount of sirup manufactured; the process of manufacturing; the ma- 
chinery used; the success of the evaporator, the vacuum-pan and the centrifugal in the 
work of manufacturing. 

3. The number of hands employed in the mill ; the cost of fuel; the cost of machinery ; 
the wages paid for labor; and the price of sorghum at the mill if not raised by the manu- 
facturer. 

The returns when received will be submitted to a competent committee for examina- 
tion, and in order to compensate the manufacturers for the work of making these returns, 
I propose to pay for the ten best returns the sum of $1,200 each — the decision to be made 
by the aforesaid committee. Each return must be sworn to before a competent officer. 

X SUGAR BEETS. 

I have distributed to ninety persons a supply of the best sugar-beet seed which I could 
obtain; and I would request each person having received this seed to send to this De- 
partment a statement of the amount of land planted by him; the yield per acre; the fer- 
tilizers used; the value of the crop in the market. I also request each person making 
this experiment to forward to this Department a sample of the crop for analysis. The 
directions for this will be issued hereafter. An accurate statement of the process of man- 
ufacturing beet sugar in this country is of great importance, and I propose to compensate 
the manufacturers for preparing such statement by the payment of the sum of $1,200 for 
each of the two best returns submitted to a committee as in the case of sorghum. 

OTHER SUGAR-PRODUCING PLANTS. 

The promise of 1,000 pounds of cornstalk sugar per acre, which was made in 1841, and 
has often been repeated with great confidence, both at the expense of the corn crop and 
in addition to it, not yet having been fulfilled in manufacture, the experiments not hav- 
ing been satisfactory, and the business not having been followed up, it is not deemed 
necessary to institute sugar-making experiments in this direction during the present year. 
The same may be said of many esculents which have been classed as sugar producers. 

All proposals to enter upon this work for the Department must be laid before the Com- 
missioner on or before August 1, 1882. 

GEO. B. LORING, 
Commissioner of Agriculture. 
IS. Mis. 51 10 



146 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



33.— REPORT FROM PROFESSOR SWENSON, DETAILING THE RESULTS OF 
THE SEASON'S WORK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 

[N. B. — The following report of Prof. Swenson arrived after the Academy's report had 
been transmitted to the Commissioner of Agriculture. But it is deemedof sufficient 
importance to form a supplement to the data previously submitted on pp. 34, 35.] 

This document is interesting especially from the evidence it offers of 
the little effect obtained by the use of fertilizers upon the sugar prod- 
uct of the crops treated by different manures. The effect appears to 
have been rather to diminish the sugar output, as compared with no 
manure, so far as can be judged from the figures. 

University of Wisconsin, Agricultural Department, 

Madison, Wis., November 22, 1882. 
Dear Sir: I forward you to-day a short report of the work done here this season. I 
am sorry that it comes so late and hope it may reach you in time. I also forward a 
sample of sugar from plot No. 2. 

Use my report as a whole or in part, as you may see fit. 
Very respectfully, 

M. SWENSON. 

Prof. B. SlLLIMAN. 

Dear Sir: I take great pleasure in submitting the following brief report of the work 
done with sorghum canes on the farm of the University of Wisconsin during the past 
season. 

Twenty-six varieties of cane were grown on the university farm during the past season, 
some of which were from seeds kindly sent by Dr. Collier. The following table shows 
the results of nay examinations: 



Variety of cane. 



Chinese No. 1 

Chinese No. 2 

Chinese No. 3 

Chinese No. 4 

Chinese No. 5 

Chinese No. 6 ..... 

India No. 1 

India No. 2 

Honduras 

Miller 

Stump 

Gooseneck 

White Mammoth 

Gray Top 

Neazana 

Early Amber 

Lynk's Hybrid.... 

Honey 

Liberian 

Kansas Orange.... 

Early Orange 

White Liberian .. 
Canada Amber.... 

Texas Amber 

Illinois Amber . . . . 



bt) 9J 

£ Cm 

> 



Lbs. Os. 



9£ 
9 
1 4 
1 6 

14 
1 6 

10i 
1 6 
1 1 
2 

1 13 
1 3i 
1 2 

1 12 

2 2 
1 6^ 
1 3i 
1 14 
1 14i 

12 
1 2i 
1 2 



Stage of the 
seed. 



Dough 

Milk 

Milk 

Dough 

Dough 

Milk 

Hard dough 
Hard dough 

Dough 

Ripe 

Doughy 

Dough 

Milk 

Milk 

Hard dough 

Ripe 

Milk 

Milk 

Ripe , 

Hard dough 

Dough 

Doughy 

Ripe 

Ripe 

Ripe 



° 53 



7.28 

7.71 

7.26 

7.80 

7.15 

4.18 

9.45 

9.26 

.8.91 

10.18 

15.77 

13.02 

8.18 

9.54 

9.12 

13.08 

11.88 

9.22 

11.30 

10.99 

7.16 

11.14 

10.74 

13.65 

11.62 






1.76 
1.88 
1.78 
1.78 
2.08 



.61 

.65 

,64 

.12 

.44 

.63 

2.42 

3.26 

2.77 

3.22 

1.96 

1.77 

3.45 

2.38 

2.32 

3.57 

1.78 

2.97 

2.29 

1.65 



The only variety used for sugar making was the Early Amber. Three separate plots 
were planted, of 3.6, 2, and 1^ acres respectively. The latter plot was used for experi- 
ments with fertilizers. Each kind of fertilizer was put on a plot of cane of one-twentieth 
of an acre, and these plots were separated from each other by guard rows where no fer- 
tilizer was used. Each lot was cut and brought to the mill separately and a sample from 
the defecated juice was taken for analysis. 



SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 
The following table gives the results: 



147 



Fertilizers.* 



No. 1. 

No. 2. 

No. 3. 

No. 4. 

No. 5. 

No. 6. 
No. 7. 

No. 8. 

No. 9. 
No. 10. 
No. 11. 
No. 12. 
No. 13. 
No. 14. 
No. 15. 
No. 16. 



No manure 

2339 pounds barnyard manure , 

Nitrogen mixture 

Superphosphate (15 pounds) , 

Chloride of potassium (7? pounds) 

f Nitrate of sodium (7? pounds) \ 

(Superphosphate (Impounds) J ' 

( Nitrate of sodium (7i pounds) \ 

\ Chloride of potassium (15 pounds) j 

/Superphosphate (15 pounds) \ 

\ Chloride of potassium (7£ pounds) J 

Barnyard manure 

No manure 

Mixed minerals and nitrogen 

Mixed minerals and two-thirds nitrogen .. 
Mixed minerals and one-third nitrogen .... 
Mixed minerals and one-sixth nitrogen .... 
Mixed minerals and one-twelfth nitrogen. 
Mixed minerals and no nitrogen 



Nitrogen 
on plot. 



Pounds. 



1.2 



1.2 
1.2 



1.2 
.8 
.4 
.2 
.1 



Cane 
sugar. 



Per cent. 
10.91 
10.19 
10.57 
10.54 
10.95 

10.77 
10. 17 

10.83 

10.87 
11.63 
11.34 
10.92 
10.41 
10.10 
11.59 
10.47 



Glucose. 



Per cent. 
2.80 
2.77 
2.77 
2.80 
2.78 

2.56 
2.78 

2.89 

2.85 
2.85 
2.76 
2.80 
2.94 
2.86 
2.90 
2.87 



Stripped 
stalks. 



Pounds. 

828 
864 
796 
762 
910 

776 
856 



578 
616 
472 
578 
548 
560 
618 
590 



♦These were obtained at the Connecticut Experiment Station, and a list maybe found on page 363 
of the Report of the Connecticut Board of Agriculture for 1880. 

The method employed for making sugar was as follows: The juice from the mill was 
pumped into the defecator by a jet pump. To the lukewarm juice milk of lime was 
added to a slight alkaline reaction. It was then heated to the boiling point, and after a 
few minutes skimmed, again heated and skimmed in the same manner three or four suc- 
cessive times. The result was a very clear juice with very little sediment in the bottom 
of the defecator. The juice was next evaporated about 20° Beaum£ in an open pan. It 
was then drawn into the vacuum-pan and evaporated to a rather dense sirup. From 
there it was drawn into wooden boxes lined with tin, each box holding fifty gallons. In 
a couple of days it was usually ready to separate. The table below gives the result of 
the work. Thus far only the ' ' firsts ' ' have been separated. The molasses has been con- 
centrated and is now crystallizing quite heavily. It will undoubtedly yield at least 
25-30 per cent, of sugar: 



Area of plots in acres 

Total weight of stripped cane 

Per cent, of juice expressed 

Per cent, of cane sugar in juice 

Percent, of glucose in juice 

Weight of cane sugar (firsts) 

Gallons of molasses 

Yield per ton of cane Sugar (firsts) 
Yield per ton of Molasses 



Plot No. 1. 



3f 

75, 262 

65 

9.89 

3.95 

2, 116i 

409 

56.3 

10.0 



Plot No. 2. 



2 

28,974 

47 

12.10 

2.86 

1,008 

101 

70 

7 



Plot No. 3. 



H 

17,112 

47 

11.20 

• 2.78 

594 

58 

69 

6.8 



Plot No. 1 was on quite low and rather heavy claying soil. At least one-fourth of the 
heads were still in the milk. Plots 2 and 3, on the other hand, were each on a sandy 
slope and the cane was quite mature. This accounts for the great differences in the com- 
position of the juices. The cane from the first three acres of plot No. 1 was crushed in 
a five-roller mill which submitted to four gradually increasing pressures, the rollers 
being so arranged that the pressure between the two last was double that between the 
first two rollers. The yield of juice with this mill was 69} per cent. 

I cannot give a fair estimate of the total cost of the sugar made here, as several stop- 
pages had to be made in order to exchange some of the machinery which was partly bor- 
rowed and was called for in the midst of the work. The expenses and returns per day 
of twelve hours were as follows: 

EXPENSES. 

Fireman $2 00 

One man at mill 1 50 

Two men in cane house at $2 4 00 

Half ton of coal 3 25 



148 SORGHUM SUGAK INDUSTRY. 

Lime, oil, kerosine, litmus paper _ $0 30 

Four tons cane at $2.50 per ton 10 00 

Cost of separating 2 00 

Total daily expenses 23 05 

KETUBNS. 

Two hundred and forty-five pounds sugar at 8 cents $19 60 

Thirty-six gallons sirup at 35 cents 12 50 

32 10 
23 05 



Balance 9 05 

The scale on which this work was conducted was, of course, entirely too small to be 
economical. A great deal of waste was incurred that might have been saved with better 
appliances. Judging by the results obtained here the past two seasons, there can be no 
reasonable doubt but that our sorghum cane will be a valuable crop as a sugar produc- 
ing plant in this vicinity. 
Very respectfully, 

M. SWENSON, 
Chemist Agricultural Department University of Wisconsin. 

Prof. B. SlLLIMAN. 



34.— BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SORGHUM. 

(CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED.] 

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SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 149 

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150 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

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SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 151 

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) 

152 SORGHUM SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

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